As tensions rise in the Middle East, US President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States could take control of Iran’s oil, saying he looks at it from a business point of view and that the spoils belong to the “winner”. Speaking at the White House, Trump said, “if I had my choice, I’m a businessman first”, when asked about securing Iranian oil. He further referred to US actions in Venezuela, saying, “If I had my choice. Yeah, cause I’m a businessman first. We are a partner with Venezuela, and we’ve taken hundreds of millions of barrels.” Trump also spoke about the idea of gaining from war. “You know that to the winner belongs the spoils. Go for the spoils. I’ve said why don’t we use it so the victor goes the spoils. We haven’t had that in this country, probably in a hundred years. We didn’t have it with the Second World War. We helped rebuild all those countries,” he said. He criticized US allies for not supporting Washington in the conflict with Iran. “Japan didn’t help us, Australia didn’t help us, South Korea didn’t help us, and then you get to Nato, Nato didn’t help us,” Trump said. He added, “We’ve got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea; we’ve got 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un.” At the same time, Trump praised some Persian Gulf countries. “Saudi Arabia has been excellent, Qatar has been excellent, UAE has been excellent, Bahrain, Kuwait,” he said. Trump also warned that Iran could be “taken out” in a single night, and said this could happen as early as Tuesday. He claimed that US forces have carried out more than 10,000 combat flights and struck over 13,000 targets in the past 37 days. These developments come at a time when the Middle East crisis has stretched into the sixth week, disrupting key energy supplies across the world. The conflict began on February 28, when Israel and US launched joint strikes on Iran, after which Iran choked the crucial Strait of Hormuz, effectively disrupting oil supply flows across the globe.
