President Trump says he was an 'hour away' from striking Iran

President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that he was only an hour away from striking Iran the day before. Trump had shared a post on Truth Social, in which he stated that the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E had urged him not to go ahead with the planned strikes in the Middle East, as a "serious" deal was close to being agreed upon by all parties involved.

"I was an hour away," he said when asked by a reporter outside the White House about how close he was to striking Iran. "It would have been happening right now…it was all done. The boats and ships are loaded to the brim, and we were set to start." In his Truth Social post, Trump said that he had instructed the Pentagon to be prepared for a "full, large-scale assault" if an acceptable deal was not agreed upon.

"They're begging to make a deal. I hope we don't have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit. We may have to give them another big hit. I am not sure yet. You'll know very soon," he said. The President also blamed Democrats for playing a part in the delay of a deal as officials in Tehran raised questions about the situation in Washington; Democrats have repeatedly called for an end to the conflict, refusing to support the President's agenda.

Trump was also asked how long Tehran had to come to the negotiating table. "Two or three days. Maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday…maybe early next week. A limited period of time. Because we can't let them have a nuclear weapon," he said. The President also claimed that if Iran possessed a nuclear weapon, it would attack several countries in the region, including Israel, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, to name a few. "It would be a nuclear holocaust," Trump averred.

The war has had its fair share of critics over the last several weeks, but President Trump believes it is not as unpopular as people might make it out to be. "Everyone tells me it's unpopular, but I think it's very popular. When they hear that it has to do with nuclear weapons that could take out Los Angeles…when we explain it to people…I don't really have enough time to explain to people," he said.

Trump also claimed that the war's popularity was not his concern, as he was not going to let "the world be blown up" under his watch. One of the consequences of the war has been high gas prices in the country, which the President said was "peanuts." "There is so much oil out there. One of the things that is happening is that these big ships are coming up to Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, and they are loading up. But I don't even think about. What I think about is you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon," he said.