'If I had my choice...': Trump eyes Iran's oil, tells the world he is a 'businessman' first

President Donald Trump said that the United States could secure the Iranian oil as the war in West Asia continues to expand, saying, "if I had my choice, I'm a businessman first".

Trump's remark came when he was asked about securing Iran's oil during a press briefing at the White House. Trump referred to US actions in Venezuela to justify the idea.

You may follow our live coverage of the West Asia war here


"If I had my choice. Yeah, cause I'm a businessman first. We are a partner with Venezuela, and we've taken hundreds of millions of barrels," he said.

Trump signalled towards moving away from US policy and taking "the spoils" of war.

"You know that to the winner belong the spoils. Go for the spoils. I've said why don't we use it to the victor go the spoils. We haven't had that in this country, probably in a hundred years. We didn't have it with the Second World War. We helped rebuild all those countries," he said.

Additionally, Trump also called out US allies who "didn't help" Washington in the war with Iran.

"Japan didn't help us, Australia didn't help us, South Korea didn't help us, and then you get to NATO -- NATO didn't help us," Trump said at a White House news conference.

Trump added of US assistance to the nations: "We've got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea; we have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un."

Also read: Iran army dismisses Trump's 'rude, arrogant rhetoric'

Trump then commended some Persian Gulf nations for their support, "Saudi Arabia has been excellent, Qatar has been excellent, UAE has been excellent, Bahrain, Kuwait."

US President Donald Trump said that Iran could be "taken out" in a single night, suggesting that such a move could come as early as Tuesday amid rising tensions in West Asia.

He also claimed that American armed forces have conducted an extensive air campaign over Iran in recent weeks, carrying out more than 10,000 combat flights and striking over 13,000 targets over the past 37 days.

Trump's remarks came as part of his warning to Iran over reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, for which he has set a deadline of Tuesday, 8:00 PM (Eastern Time).