US President Trump told Fox News we had to intervene in the Middle East to prevent Iran from using a nuclear weapon against Israel and countries in the region and possibly against us

• If Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, US will be the next target or Europe or somewhere else.
• Iran may be a nuisance, but we control the Strait of Hormuz and have removed all the mines from it.

Presidential framing of military action in terms of nuclear non-proliferation follows a well-worn script: in past episodes of this kind the rhetoric has served to legitimise operations already under way rather than to signal new escalation, and the market-relevant question has been whether the language precedes an expansion of targets or marks the ceiling of the campaign. The substantive remark for crude is the claim that the Strait of Hormuz is controlled and cleared of mines, since it is the shipping lane and its insurance and freight costs, not Iranian production itself, that carry the risk premium in episodes of Gulf tension. Assertions of that kind from Washington have historically preceded confirmation from tanker traffic data and war-risk insurance rates rather than the other way round, so the tells are charter rates and any advisories from shipping bodies, not further statements. The nuclear justification also matters for the diplomatic track: leaders who frame intervention as preventing an imminent weapon have tended to leave less room for a negotiated pause than those framing it as retaliation. Worth noting that the comments were made to a friendly outlet, a channel this president has repeatedly used to test and soften messaging before formal policy follows.