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U.S. President Donald Trump again threatened to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants if Tehran does not reach a deal with Washington, offering new specifics on the potential timeline and scale of civilian impact in a phone interview with Fox News' "Fox & Friends," hours ahead of a scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"If they don't make a deal, then I go back, and I finish the job. But that's going to take them forever to rebuild. Already, it'll take them many years to ever to rebuild," Trump said.
He said targeting Iranian bridges would be straightforward: "If I go back and finish up the job, as some people would like, with the bridges... very easy, I could take out most of their bridges in less than an hour, less than an hour."
In more extended remarks, Trump elaborated further: "It takes them 10 years to build a bridge. Bridges take the longest, and power plants are second. I can knock out the power plants within one day. All of their power plants would be gone. I think about 91 million people without power, without bridges, would have to live."
"And it's a very, very delicate balance. They know I'm going to do that if they don't make a deal. The bridges are going to be gone, literally. In less than… I would say in two hours, most of the bridges, the major bridges, will all be gone. And the power plants in one day."
Trump said he intended to avoid striking desalination plants specifically.
"And who am I hurting there? I'm hurting the people. So I'm not looking to do that," he said.
He similarly said of power plants and bridges more broadly: "If I can avoid doing that, I would like to avoid that."
Asked about Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear-linked site, Trump downplayed concerns about it while reiterating a threat to strike it.
"We have the greatest cameras in the world focused on (it)... I know exactly what's going on at Pickaxe, it's not a big problem. We took out their nuclear sites, and we'll have to take out Pickaxe if we don't make a deal. If we don't make a deal, we'll take it out very easily," he said.
Asked about reports that Netanyahu planned to share intelligence with him regarding Iran's efforts to rebuild its nuclear program, Trump appeared to push back on the Israeli leader ahead of their Oval Office meeting.
"I don't need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved," Trump said, adding: "With the space force, we have the greatest cameras in the world focused. We know exactly what's going on. I heard Bibi announced it. I said, 'why didn't you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world?'"
Trump again said Iran "will never have a nuclear weapon," and said Iran had "agreed to not have a nuclear weapon," adding: "Essentially, we have to make it formal, but they have agreed."
Trump also claimed that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. "Iran doesn't control the strait. We control the strait. They can drop a couple of mines in there and screw things up. But we control the strait," he said.
He referenced the collapsed blockade dispute, saying, "We opened the blockade, and then they broke the deal, and we put it back. They break the deal. We cannot have them breaking deals anymore."
Trump also referenced the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, saying, "If I hadn't killed General Soleimani, maybe he would have gotten the nuclear. They would have thought in a different manner."
Trump said the late Sen. Lindsey Graham had urged him to reach a deal with Iran rather than, in Trump's words, "destroying the rest of the country."
Trump described the current U.S. position as strong, saying there have been "good talks" with Iran.
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