The US president is ramping up his rhetoric against allies who are helping America reopen the Strait of Hormuz – the vital waterway for oil – that Iran has closed.
He told Truth Social a few days ago that he “hoped” the allies would help – but on Air Force One recently the language was harsher.
“I’m really asking these countries to come and protect their territory – because it’s their territory – it’s where they get their energy from and they have to help us protect it,” Trump said, foreign media reported.
Trump called the mission a “very small effort” because Iran’s missile and drone capability had been “destroyed.”
The president said “about seven countries” had been contacted, but it was too early to say which ones would take action – as he also declined to reveal which side China was leaning on.
“We’ve had some positive responses, we’ve had some who prefer not to be involved,” he added.
Trump also commented on what appears to be a lack of protests against the regime within Iran.
After the first attacks of the war, he had urged Iranians to rise up and called this a once-in-a-generation chance for change.
But he told reporters last night that this had not happened, as authorities had told people “if you protest, you will be shot and killed”.
“The protesters don’t have guns… I think it’s very difficult for them to protest. I completely understand that,” Trump said.
He also claimed that artificial intelligence had been used to generate a video that appeared to show “250,000” people at a pro-regime rally.