© Real IranUS President Donald Trump
"Well, I hope we don't, but we're in a very strong position if something should happen, we're in a very strong position," President Trump told the Fox Business Channel's Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday.
"It wouldn't last very long, I can tell you that. It would not last very long. And I'm not talking boots on the ground. I'm not talking we're going to send a million soldiers. I'm just saying if something would happen, wouldn't last very long.
Comment: That's debatable. Iran's policy at the moment is to retaliate upon launch of an attack on Iran. That means the instant they detect American missiles headed their way, they will launch attacks on American targets (among others) in the region. And even if the Americans are able to take out a majority of Iranian weapons systems, the war will likely spread, for example, to Israel. See: Russia reinforces Iranian air defense, mobilizes advisers for support
Trump said he's been "very nice" to the Iranians:
"They shot down our drone, I decided not to kill a lot of Iranians. I know a lot of Iranians. I like Iranians so much. And that plays into the decision, too. They're human beings. They're people. I didn't want to kill 150 people when they shot down an unmanned drone, so I didn't do that."
Trump said the sanctions he has imposed on Iran are "very biting."
"When I took over, Iran was a terror," he said. "We had...14 to 18 sites of confliction. Iran was behind every one of them. They would have taken over the Middle East, and they were going to make it really very, very bad...They would have taken over Saudi Arabia, they would have taken over the entire Middle East."
Bartiromo also asked the president about the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border:
Trump said he opposes the Democrats' $4.5-billion humanitarian aid bill for illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers detained at the border:
"I am not happy with it because there's no money for protection," Trump said. "It's like we're running hospitals over there now."
Trump said separating families is a "terrible thing," but because he stopped the policy put in place by his own administration, "now people are coming up."
"And I said, well I'm going to put people together, but it's going to mean more people coming up, (and) it has from that standpoint."
Trump said if Democrats would work with him to stop the legal loopholes that allow foreigners to remain here until their cases are decided, the numbers would drop.
"I can't understand it, okay, they want those people to come into the United States," Trump said about the Democrats. "So I said it must be politics, they must think that having a big, open border and have hundreds of thousands of people flowing into the United States is a good thing for our country. It's ruinous to our country."
Comment: The Trump-Bolton strategy isn't working, and it won't work. Sanctions and threats will not help. And the U.S. hasn't proven itself trustworthy in negotiations. So Khamenei is justified in saying the following:
And the U.S. can't count on a coalition of willing allies as they did when they invaded Iraq. For instance: