Trump: US removed 22 tankers from Hormuz in one night and 'nobody knew'
"We did something nobody knew," Trump told CNBC in an interview. "Every night, we were taking ships out, with no lights, for a month and a half. We had one night when we took 22 ships out. We escorted them out, and nobody knew. The lights were off, everything was off."
"We blew up Iran's radar, they had no radar, they still don't. We blew it up again the other night. They have to start all over again for a third time."
Claiming that Iran has “agreed to just about everything we need” in negotiations over a final accord between the two countries, Trump said the US military action had prevented a surge in global oil prices that could have triggered a worldwide recession.
"They thought it was going to go to $300 a barrel," he said. "If you have 300, then I become Herbert Hoover. I don't want to be Herbert Hoover."
Trump said the US campaign was focused solely on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
"This is not a war per se. This is the denuking of Iran. You can't let them have a nuclear weapon."