ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - As Western countries jointly have appealed for Iran, Israel, and Hamas to de-escalate tensions, Donald Trump insisted that if he returns to the White House the world would not be waiting for an attack by Iran during an unconventional exchange with fellow businessman Elon Musk.
"The Middle East can lead - we have numerous places that could end up in World War III, right now, for no reason whatsoever,” said former President Trump.
Trump and Musk’s online discussion marked the Republican Party candidate’s return to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on which Trump had not posted for nearly a year.
They discussed the potential global ramifications of the escalation of the conflicts in the Middle East and in Ukraine.
Trump asserted that the two conflicts would not have worsened under his leadership, saying that Iran would not be threatening retaliation due to the pressure imposed during his tenure.
"[T]hey were at a point where … they had no money for Hamas,” he said. “They had no money for Hezbollah. They had no money for any of these instruments of terror.”
Earlier on Monday, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy jointly told Iran to “stand down” amid Iran’s increasing calls for vengeance for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement with the assassination.
“All this stuff that you're seeing now, all the horror that you look at Israel, they're all waiting for an attack from Iran. Iran would not be attacking, believe me,” Trump said, insisting that his administration would have better relations with Iran.
As president, Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed biting sanctions on Tehran.
“Iran was broke because I told China, ‘If you buy oil from Iran, it's all about the oil. That's where the money is. But if you buy oil from Iran, you're not going to do any business with the United States,’ ” Trump said. “And I meant it…”
In a diplomatic flurry on Monday, European countries encouraged Iran’s newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian to choose peace.
Trump, who has previously espoused isolationist policies, argued that Americans are most concerned with domestic economic challenges.
He said: “[T]he people want to hear about the economy and the fact we should buy groceries because they don't have enough money to buy groceries, the inflation has killed them.”
Trump will debate the Democratic Party nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, on September 10. The United States will hold elections on November 5.
