Trump Says US Has Been Taking Out Millions Of Barrels Of Oil From Iran And The Country Didn't Know About It Until 'Right Now'

Trump said the United States took out 22 ships late Tuesday night, adding that Iran lacked radar capabilities after the U.S. destroyed them.

• Trump warned that the U.S. will hit Iran “very hard,” and reiterated that his administration wants a deal that would work.
• He added that the U.S. proposal prevents Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon.
• Trump said that the U.S. and Iran were very close to a deal, but added that the Iranians keep “tapping” the United States.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed that the U.S. has been taking out oil from Iran amid the ongoing war, while adding that this is why crude oil prices are at $85 a barrel, not $250.

“Do you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows about it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran, until right now,” he said while addressing reporters at the White House.

Trump said the United States took out 22 ships late Tuesday night, and that Iran lacked radar capabilities after the U.S. destroyed them.

Trump Warns US Will Hit Iran ‘Very Hard’

Trump warned that the U.S. will hit Iran “very hard,” while reiterating that his administration wants a deal that would work.

“We’ll see what happens, but we hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them again hard today… And we’ll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to the deal, but they keep tapping us along,” he said.

Trump added that the U.S. proposal prevents Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon. “They should sign the deal, it’s a good deal,” he said.

Trump’s remarks come after he said in a post on Truth Social earlier on Wednesday that Iran will have to “pay the price” for taking down a U.S. Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. subsequently launched strikes that took down 20 targets in Iran, including Iranian ground control stations, radar sites, and air defenses.

U.S. equities continued to trade in the red on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell more than 700 points before recouping some of the losses to trade about 580 points lower. The S&P 500 index was down about 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 1.2%.

Crude Oil Prices Inch Up

Crude oil prices inched up on Wednesday amid rising tensions in the Middle East. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures expiring in July were up 3.17%, hovering around $91 a barrel. Brent crude futures expiring in August rose 2.73% to hover around $93.95 a barrel.

The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) was up about 3% at the time of writing, while the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) rose over 5%.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down 0.91%; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) fell 1.35%; and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 1.16%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits regarding the S&P 500 ETF was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

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