Photo: Alamy
President Trump revealed during a cabinet meeting at the White House that Iran has given the United States a surprising gift of goodwill, revealing the present just days after hinting at it during a press conference in the Oval Office.
“I told you about a present, right? Steve, can I reveal the present?” the president remarked, referring to U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who was also in attendance at the cabinet meeting.
“You can do whatever you want,” Witkoff quipped.
“They said, ‘To show you the fact that we’re real, and solid, and we’re there, we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil – EIGHT boats! Eight big boats of oil,” President Trump said.
The president also said that two additional boats have since been added by the Iranians, bringing the final gift count to 10 oil tankers. According to President Trump, the vessels are Pakistani-flagged.
On Tuesday, the president had hinted that Iran had gifted the United States a “present” that had arrived that day. “It was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money…it was a very significant prize,” he remarked. “…It was oil and gas related, and it was a very nice thing they did – but what it showed me is we’re dealing with the right people. Because you don’t know, because the leadership was gone, all gone!”
This gift of oil to the United States will certainly be helpful amid rising gas prices. The conflict with Iran has nearly reached the four-week mark.
“We have taken actions to ensure oil supply stranded at sea are made available to the global market,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during Thursday’s cabinet meeting.
He continued, “Your bold actions like the Development Finance Corporation’s Maritime reinsurance program in conjunction with Central Command will soon provide shippers through the Gulf region with a level of security we have never seen before. Mr. President, we are starting to see more and more movement in and out of the Gulf today, and this is more than yesterday, and this is the beginning, I am confident, that shipping traffic will continue to increase on a daily basis even before we secure the Straits.”