Trump says U.S. to hit Iran “very hard,” threatens to take Kharg Island as war reignites

President Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran with “bigger” strikes Thursday, but said he didn’t know if “America has the appetite” for an operation to take Iran’s strategic Kharg Island.

“There will be more bombing tonight. It will be bigger – bigger, more powerful,” he said ‌on ‌the “Fox & Friends” program, adding that Iran is “dying to make a deal.”  

Mr. Trump said his preference “has always been” to take Iran’s oil export hub of Kharg Island, in the northern Persian Gulf, but he added: “I don’t know that America has the appetite to do what I would really much prefer doing.”

The president, who appeared to surprise Fox News with his phone call shortly after he posted about forthcoming U.S. strikes on Truth Social, said the U.S. dropped $250 million worth of bombs on Wednesday alone.

He said he would rather not deploy ground forces, but added: “If I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place.”

“I’m not frustrated,” he said when asked if he found the situation with Iran frustrating. “I don’t get frustrated.”

Mr. Trump said he would “rather not” hit civilian infrastructure such as power plants, as he has threatened previously, “because once you do that, the people suffer.”

Iran claimed early Thursday that U.S. strikes this week had hit a water storage facility, leaving 20,000 civilians without fresh water.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Mr. Trump’s previous threats to hit civilian infrastructure showed “not a strength but a sign of desperation in the face of a nation’s will.”