WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday the United States could end the war with Iran quickly, but questioned whether Washington should seek a swift conclusion or allow the conflict to gradually wind down.
“We could end it very quickly,” Trump said. “Do we want to finish it off or just want to let it wither?” Trump said while talking to reporters on the White House South Lawn as he left on a trip to Florida.
Trump said oil is getting out through the Strait of Hormuz. “We are getting everything we want,’ he said.
The US President reiterated his claim over the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is “totally ours, and that’s the way we’ll keep it”.
Trump on Iran: The question is, do we want to finish it off or let it wither? We are getting everything we want. https://t.co/jNSSsGpEdt
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 23, 2026
Iran’s Oil Lifeline ‘Decimated’
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington’s economic campaign against Iran has “decimated every layer of Iran’s oil lifeline”.
“Its shadow tanker fleet stands depleted. Its main oil terminal sits empty. And its offshore reserves are now exhausted,” Bessent posted on X.
“Meanwhile, ordinary Iranians continue to endure a deepening economic crisis because the regime squanders its resources on violence and terrorism abroad instead of the prosperity of its people at home.”
Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast to tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC and murderous Iranian regime. Less than two months later, we have decimated every layer of Iran’s oil lifeline. Its shadow tanker fleet stands depleted. Its main oil terminal sits empty. And its offshore reserves are now exhausted. Meanwhile, ordinary Iranians continue to endure a deepening economic crisis because the regime squanders its resources on violence and terrorism abroad instead of the prosperity of its people at home. As President Trump takes action that his predecessors long deferred, the United States is no longer managing the Iranian threat. We are ending it.
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 23, 2026
The US Department of Energy has authorised the emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address a supply disruption affecting Phillips 66’s Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana, Reuters reported.
