President Donald Trump claims the Iranian government has gifted him eight fully-laden oil tankers that were allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz under a Pakistani flag this week as a good-faith gesture in talks to end the war he started nearly four weeks ago.
The bizarre revelation came after he was asked about comments he’d made two days ago, during a swearing-in ceremony for newly-minuted Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. The cryptic remark indicated that he’d received a “present” from Tehran during ceasefire negotiations.
Speaking during a marathon cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump revealed the alleged gift when asked to explain what he’d meant by the “present” earlier in the week.
He told reporters that Iran had offered the precious cargo as part of the ongoing indirect talks that are currently being facilitated by Islamabad after he was asked about his prior claim.
“They said to show you the fact that we’re real and solid, and we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil. This was two days ago, and they’ll sail up tomorrow,” he said.
Trump said he hadn’t thought much about the offer for the three subsequent days until he saw a report on Fox News about eight tankers being allowed to pass through the strait.
“And I said, ‘well, I guess, I guess they were right,’ and they were, real, and I think they were Pakistani flagged. And I said, ‘well, I guess we’re dealing with the right people,” he said.
The president added that Tehran “apologies for something they said” and offered two more tankers, for a total of ten fully-laden ships.
His claim to have been gifted ten tankers full of oil came days after he left members of his own staff stupefied by alleging that Tehran had given him “very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money.”
“I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize, and they gave it to us,” he said.
“That meant one thing to me,” he added. “We’re dealing with the right people.”
Upon further questioning, the president said the prize was “oil and gas related,” as well as being tied to the strait, a vital waterway for global oil shipments. Elsewhere, Trump claimed the Iranians had agreed “they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump did not provide further specifics about these alleged concessions, but claimed the U.S. would have control “of anything we want” sometime soon.
According to Politico’s West Wing Playbook newsletter, Trump’s cryptic remarks even sowed confusion among his own inner circle, with several people close to the White House telling the publication they were “baffled by the president’s remarks.”
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