At a White House press briefing, a reporter read Trump's post threatening to obliterate Iran's electric generating plants, oil wells and possibly all desalination plants, noting that striking civilian infrastructure is generally prohibited under international law. Leavitt replied that the President is not afraid to use force, then told the reporter, Garrett, that experts were likely telling him in his ear what to ask.
The receipt
- Who
- Karoline Leavitt
- Where
- briefing - White House press briefing
- Original footage
- Times Now · watch the full video from this moment
- Length
- 56 seconds, unedited within the cut
- Plays
- 138 on Instagram
Read the transcript
The President posted this morning about his threat that on leaving Iran, he said, we might be blowing up and completely obliterating all of their electric generating plans, oil wells, hard island, and possibly all desalination plans. Under international law, striking civilian infrastructure like that is generally prohibited. Why is the President threatening what would amount to potentially a war crime with the U .S. military? And how do you square that with the administration repeatedly saying that the U .S. does not target civilians. Look, the President has made it quite clear to the Iranian regime at this moment in time, as evidenced by the statement that you just read, that their best move is to make a deal, or else the United States Armed Forces has capabilities beyond their wildest imagination. And the President is not afraid to use them. That's not what I said, Garrett. And you're saying the word potential for a reason, because I'm sure some experts are telling you that in your ear to try to ask me that question.
Machine transcript of the clip's audio; names are checked, small words may differ.