Trump warns Iran: 'We will wipe them out' if provoked

US President Donald Trump spoke sharply about Iran during an overnight conversation with White House reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from Ohio. "The Iranian situation is going excellently, just absolutely excellently," the president declared.

Trump made clear he has no faith in the Iranian regime. "I'm the last person who would trust Iran. They've lied to me constantly," he said. The president emphasized American dominance over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly one-third of the world's seaborne oil passes. "We have absolute control of the Strait of Hormuz right now — they have no control, we have complete control. The strait is in our hands," Trump stated.

Trump's remarks come amid ongoing tensions in the region. Just a day earlier, American forces struck a vessel attempting to breach the naval blockade on Iranian ports, with a US helicopter damaging the ship's steering mechanism. This marked the first American strike in the strait following a week of relative restraint.

The president went beyond assertions of maritime control. "At some point, maybe they'll do something, and then we'll wipe them out," Trump said, keeping all options available. According to the president, Iran has lost its regional standing. "Right now we're in a very good position. We're dealing with a country that was the bully of the Middle East for 50 years. Today they're no longer the bully of the Middle East," he said.

Trump also addressed the Washington Post's revelation about a dramatic extraction operation conducted last month as he departed Turkey. According to reports, the president was secretly transferred via a catering truck to an alternative military aircraft, while Air Force One served as a decoy to mislead an Iranian threat.

"It depends entirely on the Secret Service," Trump explained. "I simply do what they want, so I follow the instructions of the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to fly on a different plane — so I did it. I do what they tell me."

The president acknowledged some threat existed but declined to elaborate. "I assume there was some threat there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats — there are many threats against me that you don't even know about," he said.

The Iranian threat against Trump is not merely theoretical. Recently circulated images revealed Avenger anti-aircraft missile batteries deployed at the president's New Jersey golf club, and while Trump played in the LIV tournament last Sunday, F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two civilian aircraft that penetrated the restricted airspace above the course.