Donald Trump says US is 'essentially controlling' straits, will soon take full control amid Iran tensions

US President Donald Trump has said the United States is ldquoessentially controllingrdquo strategic waterways linked to Iran and will soon take full control of them while reiterating that Tehran will not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weaponIn an interview with his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen broadcast by 77 WABC Radio Trump defended his military actions against Iran and acknowledged that the conflict could lead to higher energy and petrol costs for American consumersldquoNow with Iran they will never have a nuclear weaponrdquo Trump said in the interview ldquoWersquove wersquore controlling essentially controlling and soon controlling the Straits Wersquore doing very well with IranrdquoTrump did not identify the waterways by name in the portion of the interview released on WednesdayTrump says Irans leadership has been weakenedTrump claimed that Irans navy air force and leadership had been severely weakened making negotiations more difficultldquoPart of the problem is so many of the leaders are gone Itrsquos not easy to make a deal Nobody knows whorsquos leadingrdquo Trump saidHe argued that the cost of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons could include higher energy prices for AmericansldquoAnd I tell them theyrsquoll be uh a little higher for your energy cost but theyrsquoll be a little bit higher for gasolinerdquo Trump said ldquoBut we have to make a journey to the Middle East because we canrsquot let Iran have a nuclear weaponrdquoTrump defends military action against IranThe US President claimed that Iran had been ldquomilitarily wiped outrdquo and had lost a significant portion of its ability to produce missiles and dronesHe also pointed to high inflation a weakened currency and unpaid military personnel as signs that Tehran was facing growing pressureldquoThe reason I did it and we had no choice and I wouldrsquove done it again a hundred times they cannot have a nuclear weapon and they wonrsquot be having a nuclear weaponrdquo he saidTrump also defended the use of B2 bombers against Iranian nuclear facilities saying the operation was carried out deep at night and that every bomb hit its intended targetTrump says Iran was weeks away from nuclear weaponTrump claimed Iran was close to acquiring a nuclear weapon when the US carried out strikes on its nuclear facilitiesldquoWhen we hit them with the B2 bombers they were exactly two weeks away from having a nuclear weaponrdquo he said ldquoAnd thatrsquos why I had to do it because you cannot let them have that kind of a weaponrdquoTrump argued that Iran could have used nuclear weapons against Israel and other countries in the Middle East if it had acquired themHe named Saudi Arabia Qatar the United Arab Emirates Kuwait and Bahrain among countries that he said had been targeted by Iranian missilesldquoThere would be no Israel if there was no Donald Trumprdquo he said adding ldquoI believe the Middle East would have been entirely wiped out but Israel definitely would have been wiped outrdquoTrump discusses US economy and tariffsDuring the interview Trump also discussed Venezuela immigration tariffs and the US economyHe claimed that his tariff policies were encouraging companies to bring automobile semiconductor pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing back to the United StatesTrump described the resulting investment and construction activity as ldquoa renaissancerdquoThe interview was conducted by Cohen who served for years as Trumps personal lawyer and fixer before their relationship broke down publiclyCohen later testified against Trump and became one of his most prominent criticsWith inputs from IANS