President Trump tied the Iran conflict to oil, fuel prices and the midterms Sunday, saying from Ireland that the U.S. might leave eventually unless it chooses to remain and control the country’s crude.
In Doonbeg, Trump told reporters the Iranian regime was eager for an agreement, saying Tehran “wants to make a deal so badly” and has been calling “constantly.”
He also predicted the conflict would end after the midterm elections.
“We’ll ultimately get out unless we decide to stay and keep the oil, like Venezuela,” Trump commented to the press.
The Venezuela reference pointed to an administration arrangement involving North American Blue Energy Partners, Venezuela’s second-largest private oil producer. The U.S. would buy 20 percent of the company’s oil at the cost of production under that deal.
President Trump: “The country is booming… Iran will end right after the midterms—maybe before—but it'll end right after the midterms. Gasoline's going to drop like a rock…”
“Iran wants to make a deal so badly. They are calling constantly. They want to make a deal. They got to… pic.twitter.com/zUmYqTvD4u
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) September 13, 2026
Trump had put Iran’s oil near the center of his war thinking months earlier. In March, he told the Financial Times that taking the oil was his “favorite thing” and dismissed Americans who questioned the move.
“Some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” Trump said.
The oil remarks came as energy costs gave the foreign-policy fight a direct pocketbook angle at home.
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AAA data listed the average U.S. gas price at $4.31 on Sunday, more than $1.10 above last year’s average. Diesel reached $6.20, the highest recorded average price.
Iran’s limits on passage through the Strait of Hormuz have affected gas prices and raised the risk of fuel shortages. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply is exported through the strait.
Trump also connected diesel prices to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries while speaking at his golf course during the Irish Open.
Asked whether he had spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump turned the answer into a warning about fuel targets.
“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing,” Trump stated. “He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. We spoke to Mr. Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world.”
Trump said diesel was becoming more expensive because “it’s having a hard time coming out of Russia.”
“And if that’s the case, that hurts the world,” he noted. “We’ve got to stop it.”
Ukraine hit a Siberian refinery Thursday, creating fuel shortages in Russia before Moscow retaliated against urban gas stations. The Hill reported that Nizhnekamsk, a city with several key oil refineries, was one target, while another drone strike hit a crucial refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia’s Krasnodar region near Crimea.
Trump’s midterm timeline for Iran also surfaced on Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” after Laura Ingraham raised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the idea of waiting out the elections.
Trump said he thought “a lot of people” were trying that approach, then brought the answer back to Iran.
“So, Iran’s — as soon as they’re — by the way, the war will end right after the midterms,” Trump remarked.
Pressed by Ingraham on why the war would end if Republicans lost, Trump framed a loss as another possible route to escalation.
“Well, I think a lot of people think if we lose, then I’ll be much more angry and I’ll just take care of business, that’s another way of doing it,” Trump said. “Either way, they lose.”
Aboard Air Force One, Trump also addressed a Wall Street Journal report that Chinese entities allegedly supplied Iran with high-resolution satellite imagery of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan before Tehran’s July 17 missile attack killed three U.S. troops.
“They basically do what we do,” Trump stated.
The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials tied the imagery to the Jordan base attack and viewed it as the clearest evidence so far that Chinese-entity support for Iran during the war had caused deadly consequences for American forces.
The officials did not name the Chinese entities and did not accuse Beijing of directly taking part in the strike.
When Trump was asked whether he would raise the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during Xi’s U.S. visit, he said Xi had “behaved reasonably well” and said the U.S. had behaved the same way.
“You know what they say? That China spies on us. I say you’re right, and we spy on them, too,” Trump added.
Trump’s weekend comments also moved into the uproar over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a 9/11 Memorial ceremony.
Video from the Friday ceremony showed Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani smiling and appearing to laugh as they spoke, after the feed had shown a young man overcome with emotion near the memorial. Their conversation could not be heard.
🚨 President Trump just CALLED OUT AOC and Mamdani for LAUGHING together during the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony
"The fact that they were laughing together at a very important part of the ceremony was INAPPROPRIATE."
"It's NOT a place to be laughing. Especially in that case." pic.twitter.com/HHLWejpPDx
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 13, 2026
Trump called the moment “terrible” after being asked about it.
“I think it’s terrible,” Trump said. “It’s not a place to be laughing, especially in that case.”
The ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11, with mourners reading the names of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 2001 attacks.
Trump said Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani had been laughing during “a very important part of the ceremony.”
“I thought it was terrible,” Trump said. “The fact that they were laughing together at a very important part of the ceremony was inappropriate.”
