‘Grab Iran’s oil and keep it!’: Trump’s interview from 1987 goes viral amid the war

US and Israel’s February 28 attack on Iran might have seemed sudden on the surface, but the thought process behind it took decades in the making. In an interview in 1987 that has resurfaced now, and has since gone viral, Donald Trump can be seen asking why the US can’t just go and take Iran’s oil.

The video was from a segment on ABC's 20/20 with journalist Barbara Walters. At that time, during the Iran-Iraq War era, Iran was targeting oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.  

“Let them have Iran, you take their oil,” Trump said, adding that there would be a war if the US remained “weak”. “You are going to have a war by being weak,” he told Walters. “You are going to have a war and it is going to start in the Middle East,” he had said.

“The next time Iran attacks this country, go in and grab one of their big oil installations…and I mean, grab it and keep it and get back your losses because this country has lost because of Iran,” he said.

Trump reiterated the same sentiments in a recent interview with Financial Times. He said his favourite thing was to take the oil in Iran. “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” said Trump. He compared his plans in Iran to Venezuela, where the US aims to control the oil sector indefinitely, following the capture of Nicolas Maduro earlier this year.

The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has escalated, leading to a significant rise in oil prices. Brent crude oil surged by more than 50 per cent over the past month. On Monday morning in Asia, Brent crude exceeded $116 a barrel, approaching its highest level since the conflict started.

The US has ordered the deployment of around 10,000 military personnel for ground operations, along with elements of the 82nd Airborne Division. The USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have entered the region.