US to Hit Iran 'Extremely Hard', Historic Moon Mission, More
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Caroline Hepke. Five weeks into the war with Iran, President Trump has delivered a prime time address in which he has said that U.S. operations are close to completion while also pledging more aggressive actions.
What recent actions has the US taken regarding Iran?
The speech comes as the president is grasping for an off ramp in a conflict that has quickly slipped out of control. But rather than reassuring markets that he could bring the war to a swift end, his remarks appear to have rattled investors.
We are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong forever.
Those comments sent the price of crude soaring as stocks tumbled and Treasury yields climbed in tandem with the US dollar. President Trump also said that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen naturally once hostilities subside, without providing details as he offered no concrete plan for reopening the vital waterway. And he pledged to take more aggressive measures if Iran does not negotiate a ceasefire with the US.
If during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously. We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it, and it would be gone, and there's not a thing they could do about it.
The president also did not present any new arguments or explanations for the war, instead reiterating his desire to destroy Iran's military and nuclear capabilities.
What are the implications of President Trump's address on the war with Iran?
Ahead of Trump's address, Iranian President Massoud Pazeshkian took the unusual step of releasing a letter addressed to the Americans, American people, arguing that his country has no enmity with the U.S. US allies, meanwhile, are meeting to prepare a diplomatic outreach to Iran, which is starting to operate the Strait of Hormuz like a toll booth. A Bloomberg investigation reveals how Iran-friendly tankers are being given secret codes and charged around a dollar per barrel of oil for safe passage. Reopening the Strait has become a key priority for governments around the world, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushing for talks.
We're exploring each and every diplomatic avenue that is available to us. And the UK has now brought together 35 nations around our statement of intent to push as one for maritime security across the Gulf.
The British leader has been a frequent target of the White House for refusing to join in the war. Those talks that Starmer references are happening later today here in London and the US is not expected to be attending them. European leaders, meanwhile, are concerned that President Trump's threats to withdraw from NATO could erode the alliance at a critical moment in its history. When asked by the Telegraph newspaper if he would consider pulling the US out of the treaty, President Trump said, oh yes, I would say it's beyond reconsideration. In the same interview, the president called the bloc a paper tiger and criticised European members' refusal to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, Pierre Vandier, says the alliance must weather the storm.
A crisis is when the ties of your car are flat. A shock is when you hit a tree. We are in a world where hitting trees now is a new normal. And I think for an alliance, it's a strong challenge to be able to adapt at a very high speed to these shocks.
Vandier added that it's a moment when we need to have cool heads. His comments came as the FT reported Trump had threatened to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine in order to pressure the Europeans to join a coalition of the willing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The war in Iran has prompted a surge in UK petrol prices. It's a development which adds to the pressure facing Prime Minister Keir Starmer to help those struggling with the cost of living.
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