WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has said Israel and other countries it “protected” should reimburse the costs incurred during its war on Iran.In an interview with CBS News aired Sunday, Trump said such countries would “pay us any and all costs we had for the war”.“We’re going to get all that money back,” Trump said. “They’re going to do it, 100 percent. Because without us, they wouldn’t exist.”For the first time, Trump also explicitly spoke of compensation from Israel, which he said “wouldn’t exist” without US military intervention.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been persistently calling Trump to urge him to resume military action against Iran despite diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, The Financial Times reported on Monday.“Netanyahu calls him every day [to urge him to resume the war],” a person briefed on the discussions told the British newspaper.He said figures inside and outside the White House who oppose renewed fighting have been trying to counter Netanyahu’s pressure to resume the war.The reimbursement demand comes after Trump and his Republican party took a drubbing in midterm elections, which the president has conceded was partly due to public discontent over the Iran war.Just days before the midterm vote, it emerged the Pentagon’s estimate for the total cost of the war had surged to $47 billion. Between February and the start of August, the Iran war had racked up a bill of around $38 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The US used up more than $13 billion in air defense interceptor missiles during this period, the non-partisan agency said.Replacing weapons like Tomahawk cruise missiles and interceptors like Patriot missiles were described as the single biggest cost for the US over the course of the conflict.By mid-July, the US had used up more than 1,700 Patriot interceptors and over 200 THAAD missiles in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.The US president has since declared the war “effectively over” militarily, while defending his decision to start the conflict as “a very good decision”.“We decapitated their [Iran’s] nuclear arsenal,” he said. “If I didn’t do that, there would be no Israel right now. Israel would be gone.”Previously, Trump has said he would seek repayment from Gulf countries that benefit from the US military presence around the embattled Strait of Hormuz, where US forces have been escorting vessels.“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world, we’re spending money, and so what we’ve done is we’re going to be reimbursed for protection,” Trump said during a press briefing in July.While the US and Israel jointly launched the war on Iran, Gulf countries have said that they were not even informed about Washington’s plans, and have since borne the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory attacks.WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has said Israel and other countries it “protected” should reimburse the costs incurred during its war on Iran.In an interview with CBS News aired Sunday, Trump said such countries would “pay us any and all costs we had for the war”.“We’re going to get all that money back,” Trump said. “They’re going to do it, 100 percent. Because without us, they wouldn’t exist.”For the first time, Trump also explicitly spoke of compensation from Israel, which he said “wouldn’t exist” without US military intervention.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been persistently calling Trump to urge him to resume military action against Iran despite diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, The Financial Times reported on Monday.“Netanyahu calls him every day [to urge him to resume the war],” a person briefed on the discussions told the British newspaper.He said figures inside and outside the White House who oppose renewed fighting have been trying to counter Netanyahu’s pressure to resume the war.The reimbursement demand comes after Trump and his Republican party took a drubbing in midterm elections, which the president has conceded was partly due to public discontent over the Iran war.Just days before the midterm vote, it emerged the Pentagon’s estimate for the total cost of the war had surged to $47 billion. Between February and the start of August, the Iran war had racked up a bill of around $38 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The US used up more than $13 billion in air defense interceptor missiles during this period, the non-partisan agency said.Replacing weapons like Tomahawk cruise missiles and interceptors like Patriot missiles were described as the single biggest cost for the US over the course of the conflict.By mid-July, the US had used up more than 1,700 Patriot interceptors and over 200 THAAD missiles in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.The US president has since declared the war “effectively over” militarily, while defending his decision to start the conflict as “a very good decision”.“We decapitated their [Iran’s] nuclear arsenal,” he said. “If I didn’t do that, there would be no Israel right now. Israel would be gone.”Previously, Trump has said he would seek repayment from Gulf countries that benefit from the US military presence around the embattled Strait of Hormuz, where US forces have been escorting vessels.“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world, we’re spending money, and so what we’ve done is we’re going to be reimbursed for protection,” Trump said during a press briefing in July.While the US and Israel jointly launched the war on Iran, Gulf countries have said that they were not even informed about Washington’s plans, and have since borne the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
Trump demands Israel and other allies it 'protected' pay back Iran war costs
