Trump calls higher oil prices a ‘small price to pay’ for preventing a nuclear-armed Iran and says the war will end soon

U.S. President Donald Trump defended higher oil prices caused by the Iran war, saying they were a “small price to pay” for preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“We had [oil] very low, and I knew that would happen, but it was a choice,” Trump said in an interview with WINK-TV in Florida on Friday. “It’s a small price to pay for taking a nuclear weapon away from Iran, which is a very evil country.”

Asked when he expected the war to end, Trump said: “I see it ending soon. I see it ending one way or another, through agreement or otherwise.”

Trump also said the U.S. attack on Iran had been unavoidable, arguing that Tehran otherwise would have acquired a nuclear weapon. “If we didn’t do a B-2 bomber attack, they would have had a nuclear weapon,” he said.

He predicted oil prices would fall rapidly once the conflict ends and said large volumes of oil were again moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

On domestic prices, Trump acknowledged beef remained expensive but said prices were already declining and argued cattle production takes longer to respond than other parts of the economy.