President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States has the capability to rapidly destroy key Iranian infrastructure if negotiations fail, while emphasizing that he would prefer to avoid taking such action because of the impact it would have on civilians.
Speaking during an appearance on Fox & Friends, Trump was asked by co-host Steve Doocy how he responds to competing calls from those urging him to end the conflict with Iran and those encouraging him to continue military operations.
Doocy described the differing opinions as “two different messages,” prompting the president to explain how he views the situation and the leverage he believes the United States currently holds.
Trump said that if he chose to resume military operations, targeting Iran’s bridges would be straightforward.
“If I go back and finish up the job, as some people would like with bridges, very easy, I could take out most bridges in less than an hour. Less than an hour,” Trump said.
The president contrasted the speed of potential strikes with the years required to rebuild critical infrastructure.
“Takes them 10 years to build a bridge, bridges take longest and power plants are second, I could knockout power plants within one day all of their power plants would be gone. I let them know that, with negotiation. Look, people want me to do that,” he said.
Trump argued that the possibility of such strikes provides negotiating leverage, saying he believes he can achieve many of the same objectives without actually carrying them out.
“I get almost same thing out of it as doing it,” he said.
At the same time, Trump acknowledged the consequences such attacks would have for the Iranian population, noting that millions of people would be left without electricity or transportation.
“Problem is they will never be able to, I think 91 million people without power, without power without bridges, they have to live. It’s a very delicate balance,” Trump said.
The president added that he believes Iran understands the consequences if negotiations fail.
“We have a strong position right now, they know I’m going to do that if they don’t make a deal, the bridges are going to be gone,” Trump said. “I would say within two hours, most bridges, major bridges will be gone and power plants in one day.”
Despite those remarks, Trump reiterated that avoiding such an outcome remains his preference.
“And if I can avoid that, I would like to do that,” he said, adding that bridges and power plants are among the most difficult types of infrastructure to replace.
Reflecting on his background in construction, Trump said rebuilding major infrastructure projects takes years, while destroying them could take only a short period of time.
“That is what I used to do for a living, construction. It takes years to build these things and you know, knock them out in one hour and it takes many years and it really decimates a country,” he said.
Trump also mentioned desalination plants, questioning the effect attacks on those facilities would have on ordinary people.
“So those are two big things and then there are always the desalination plant and who am I hurting there I’m hurting the people, so I’m not looking to do that,” he said. “I just want very simply, they cannot have a nuclear weapon and they have agreed to that essentially.”
The article notes that striking bridges, power plants, and desalination facilities is widely considered a war crime. It also notes that Trump declined to answer reporters last week in the Oval Office when asked whether he would consider targeting such infrastructure.
The president has faced increasing pressure to bring the conflict with Iran to an end. The war began on Feb. 28 and included a brief ceasefire before fighting resumed.
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