President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to “bomb the hell” out of Iran if it does not abide by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US, adding he was concerned the war could spark an “economic catastrophe” dooming his presidency.
"The one president I did not want to be was the late, great, Herbert Hoover,” Trump said, noting that the stock market rose when he said he was considering ending the war and went down “very big” when he mulled continuing the conflict.
"The stock market is more brilliant than anybody there is, including the people on this stage, other than me, of course,” Trump said, flanked by senior US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Hoover was the Republican president who entered office in 1929, just before the onset of the Great Depression. Historians and economists say his landmark tariff bill exacerbated the years-long economic downturn.
“I didn’t want to see an economic catastrophe,” Trump said at a rambling press conference on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in Evian, France.
