President Donald Trump didn’t directly answer Wednesday when asked whether the war in Iran will conclude before the war in Ukraine comes to a close.
The president fielded questions from reporters on the topic during an Oval Office event with astronauts from the recent Artemis II mission. In the past, Trump has frequently suggested that the United States has virtually accomplished all of its objectives for Operation Epic Fury, short of securing a denuclearized Iran, while voicing displeasure with his inability to end Russia’s four-year offensive into Ukraine.
“Which war would end first? I don’t know. Maybe they’re on a similar timetable,” Trump answered before reiterating his claims that, despite the ongoing ceasefire, Iran has already been “militarily defeated.”
“In addition, their economy is crashing, as you know,” he said. “Their money is valueless. They’ve got inflation that nobody’s ever seen before.”
The president proceeded to claim that the audiences of both The New York Times and CNN likely believe Iran is “doing wonderfully because it’s fake news.”
Earlier in his press availability, Trump confirmed to reporters that he’d spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I talked about Ukraine, and I talked a little bit about Iran,” he said. “I talked about a few different subjects, mostly about Ukraine, and we had a very good conversation. I think we’re going to come up with a solution relatively quickly.”
The president added that Putin had offered “to be involved” with removing enriched uranium from Iran, to which Trump told his Russian counterpart, “I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war in Ukraine.”
TRUMP CLAIMS IRAN IS IN ‘STATE OF COLLAPSE’ AND BEGGING US TO OPEN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
You can watch Trump’s comments in full below.