Donald Trump has ordered America’s allies to ‘get your own oil’ and prepare to ‘fight for yourself’ in a grim warning the US may withdraw support from the war in Iran.
The President tore into countries struggling to find jet fuel, telling them to ‘build up some delayed courage’ and ‘go to the Strait’ themselves.
‘I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,’ Trump wrote in a furious post on Truth Social on Tuesday.
‘You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.
‘Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done.
‘Go get your own oil!’
It comes as Anthony Albanese chose his words very carefully during an interview about Trump’s success in Iran with the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson on Monday night.
The Prime Minister said that while the US had achieved two of its main objectives in Iran, it had failed to break apart the Gulf state’s regime.
Donald Trump insisted he had done ‘the hard part’ by launching the war on Iran, insisting countries like the UK would have to reopen the blocked Strait of Hormuz
The President singled out the UK as he tore into countries struggling to find jet fuel, telling them to ‘build up some delayed courage’ and ‘go to the Strait’ themselves (pictured)
‘The president said at the beginning of this conflict that it was about three things,’ Albanese said. ‘It was about nuclear weapons and making sure that Iran can’t get a nuclear weapon.
‘Secondly, he wanted to damage Iran’s capabilities to attack its neighbours or to assist its proxies in Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis – and others as well.
‘But the third was regime change. I note the president today has said that there has been a regime change.’
Ferguson pushed: ‘What’s your response to him saying that?’
Albanese conceded: ‘Well, there certainly has been a change in personnel but the structures of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and the way that they engage is still largely in place.’
The federal government on Monday announced a range of measures as the Middle East conflict continues to increase prices at the bowser.
Australia’s fuel excise will be slashed by 26.3 cents per litre for three months, the heavy vehicle road user charge will be cut for three months, and the government will also defer the next scheduled increase in the road user charge by six months.
The government has also urged states and territories to consider matching the move through reduced heavy vehicle registration fees.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (above) called out US President Donald Trump’s claim the US had forced a regime change in Iran
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Stocks rose after Trump reportedly told aides he was willing to end the war even if the Strait remains shut – a significant climbdown from his earlier threats to ‘completely obliterate’ Iran’s oil fields unless the waterway reopened.
The Dow jumped 498 points, or 1 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent, and the Nasdaq surged 1.4 percent.
Oil continued to climb with Brent crude, the global benchmark, hitting $117 per barrel, up four per cent. The national average gas price topped $4 a gallon for the first time since the war began on February 28.
Trump’s comments came as European countries have turned their backs on the Iran war. Even friends like Emmanuel Macron have called the strikes ‘outside of international law’ and that France ‘cannot approve them.’
Italy barred an American bomber flying to the Middle East from landing at one of its bases, Spain restricted its airspace for US warplanes, and Poland refused to send Patriot air defense systems to the region.
Europe’s rejection of the conflict stands at odds with America’s Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain privately urging Washington to press on with the war.
Officials in all four Gulf states have privately insisted the military operation must continue until the Iranian leadership is toppled or forced into a dramatic U-turn.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Trump to seize the ‘historic opportunity’ in the Middle East, encouraging the President to deploy ground troops to seize Iran’s energy sites.
Trump insisted Iran had been ‘essentially, decimated’ and ‘the hard part is done’ after US forces overnight dropped 2,000lb bunker-buster bombs on an ammunition depot in Isfahan as an Iranian drone set ablaze a fully loaded Kuwaiti tanker off Dubai.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said the Al-Salmi, carrying two million barrels of crude, was struck while anchored at Dubai port, causing a fire onboard. All 24 crew members were safe and no oil spill was reported.
Trump is gunning for a deal with Tehran before an April 6 deadline to reopen the Strait, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
She added that talks were progressing and that what Tehran says publicly differs from what it tells US officials in private.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the US peace proposals relayed via intermediaries as ‘unrealistic, illogical and excessive.’
The Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi oil tanker was reported to have been attacked by an Iranian drone while anchored at Dubai port
Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei insisted: ‘We are under military aggression. Therefore, all our efforts and strength are focused on defending ourselves.’
The White House also confirmed Trump was weighing whether to ask Arab nations to foot the bill for the war.
‘It’s an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you’ll hear more from him on,’ Leavitt said.
