In shift, Trump says reopening Hormuz a ‘very big priority’

US President Donald Trump says reopening the Strait of Hormuz is a “very big priority,” adding that it does not take much for Iran to be able to obstruct traffic in the channel.

In the past, Trump has indicated that the reopening of the strait is not a necessity for US interests and that other countries can go in “and just take the oil.”

Asked to explain his seemingly contradictory messaging from the past several days in which he has both said the war is coming to an end and has threatened to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, Trump says it “depends” on what Iran does.

He recalls his Tuesday night ultimatum for Iran to accept a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a deadline that he has already pushed off twice.

“They asked for an extension of seven days. I said, ‘Give them 10 days,'” Trump recalls. He would go on to push it off by an additional 24 hours on Sunday.

“I thought it was inappropriate [to attack] the day after Easter. I want to be a nice person. They have until tomorrow. Now we’ll see what happens,” Trump adds.

“They’re negotiating, we think in good faith,” Trump says of Iran.

“We’re getting the help of some incredible countries that want this to be ended, because it affects them also,” he says. “We’re giving them until tomorrow, eight o’clock Eastern Time. After that, they can have no bridges. No power plants. Stone age.”