‘I’m the last person to trust Iran,’ says Trump, confirming he was forced off Air Force One over security risk

President Trump says US “owns” Strait of Hormuz, warns Iran could be “blown away” if it challenges US control.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has little faith in Iran’s leadership and confirmed that he was forced to avoid using Air Force One over a security threat, amid reports Israel alerted the United States to an Iranian plot to shoot down the aircraft with shoulder-fired missiles.

Speaking to reporters after returning from a trip to Ohio, Trump rejected a suggestion that his administration’s continuing diplomatic contacts with Tehran indicated that he trusted the Iranian government.

“I’m the last person to trust Iran,” Trump said. “They’ve lied to me constantly.”

Trump then portrayed the balance of power around the strategic waterway as decisively favoring Washington.

“We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now… we own it,” he said.

“At some point maybe they’ll do something and get blown away,” Trump added, before saying the US was currently “in a very good position.”

Trump also argued that the months-long war had fundamentally reduced Iran’s regional power, describing the Islamic Republic as having been “the bully of the Middle East” since shortly after the 1979 revolution but saying it was “no longer” able to play that role.

The comments were among Trump’s strongest assertions yet that the US Navy, rather than Iran, now controls passage through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Tehran continuing to insist that it retains authority over shipping through the waterway.

The competing claims come at a particularly sensitive moment in US-Iran negotiations.

Iran has maintained that the strait will not be fully reopened unless Washington agrees to a series of concessions, including sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets and compensation for damage inflicted during the war.

Tehran has also sought recognition of an Iranian role in controlling traffic through the waterway.

Before the war, around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments traveled through Hormuz.

Traffic has since collapsed: only six ships passed through on Monday, compared with roughly 130 to 140 vessels per day before the conflict, according to shipping data cited by Reuters.

Washington rejects Iran’s claim to unilateral authority over the strait.

Trump has repeatedly said US naval forces determine which ships can pass and has maintained a blockade preventing vessels from reaching Iranian ports.

The White House described the same policy in late July, quoting Trump as saying: “Iran doesn’t control the Strait. We control the Strait.”

US forces on Tuesday fired missiles at a Panama-flagged cargo vessel that American officials said was attempting to violate the blockade of Iranian ports. The ship was disabled, while its crew was reported safe.

Trump’s remarks Tuesday also came as reporters questioned him about the disclosure that he secretly changed aircraft while leaving Turkey last month because of intelligence regarding a possible Iranian assassination attempt.

Trump said he had simply followed the instructions of the Secret Service and military.

“I guess there was a threat out there,” he said, adding that he had not asked for extensive details because “I get a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about.”

The covert operation saw Trump removed from Air Force One and transferred to another military aircraft while aides and journalists continued aboard the original plane, which effectively served as a decoy.

“I go by Secret Service and the military,” Trump added. “They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane.”

“I just have to do what they say.”

“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump continued. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”