On April 6 (US time), speaking at the White House, US President Donald Trump frankly shared about US strategic goals in Iran. He affirmed that Tehran's huge oil resources are currently completely under the control of the US military.
According to him, taking over and operating oil fields not only creates geopolitical advantages but also brings in huge revenue, helping to compensate for the defense budget that is under great pressure. However, he also acknowledged an objective reality: "The American people want to see us win and go home.
This statement highlighted the intractable problem that the administration of President Donald Trump is facing. On the one hand, controlling Iran's oil infrastructure could help the US recover huge military spending, which has exceeded the threshold of 42.1 billion USD after just over 1 month of fighting.
With volatile world oil prices, this is seen as an attractive financial compensation to realize his slogan "America First". On the other hand, maintaining a long-term military to protect these facilities will cause the US to continue to get bogged down in a war of consumption. It is estimated that Washington's daily presence here costs about 1 billion USD.
However, President Trump still maintains the view that the United States deserves to receive economic benefits commensurate with the military investment it has made. The concept of "victory" in his expression does not only stop at military but also includes minimizing the financial capacity of the opponent. He believes that voters, although wanting to withdraw their troops, still expect a resounding result before leaving.
Currently, the Pentagon is still maintaining high-intensity airstrikes on Iran's strategic targets. However, the specific troop withdrawal roadmap has not yet been clearly scheduled. The reaction of US voters in the near future will be a decisive factor in whether Mr. Trump will choose to delve deeper into economic goals or prioritize troop withdrawal to ease political pressure ahead of the elections.
