LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump says the U.S. will leave Iran in two to three weeks, declaring he's only ever had one goal in mind despite repeating many others since the start of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran five weeks ago.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I had one goal - they will have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It is unclear what the evidence is of that, but he's also saying countries who need oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively shut down at the start of the war, will have to go and get it themselves. Trump will address the nation at 9 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
FADEL: Here with the latest is NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning, Mara.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: OK. President Trump on Monday threatened to bomb civilian infrastructure if Iran didn't immediately open the Strait of Hormuz for business. But now he's saying he doesn't care?
LIASSON: That's right. This is the biggest swivel that Trump has made so far. He has made a series of very harsh threats against Iran. Less than 36 hours ago, he said he would bomb civilian sites, electricity plants, desalinization plants. That might have gone against the Geneva Convention, but he said if the Strait of Hormuz didn't open up shortly, that would happen. Now all of a sudden, it's no longer a goal. He doesn't care. He's washing his hands of this, and someone else can deal with it. Here's what he said yesterday.
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TRUMP: We'll be leaving very soon. And if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they'll go up through the strait and - Hormuz Strait. They'll go right up there, and they'll be able to fend for themselves. I think it'll be very safe, actually, but we have nothing to do with that. What happens in the strait we're not going to have anything to do with.
LIASSON: So in his search for an off-ramp, he seems to be OK with Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz. And this certainly is one of the biggest reversals that he's made so far.
FADEL: OK. But if he doesn't care about it, why was he talking about it so much and making these incredible threats?
LIASSON: That's a good question. The strait is really important. About one-fifth of the world's oil passes through it. Iran does have a stranglehold on global markets now. So even if Donald Trump is now trying to argue that the $4 a gallon of gas doesn't affect us, it actually does because oil prices are set globally.
FADEL: OK. So speaking of the $4 gas, what did he say about that?
LIASSON: Well, he said the answer was simple.
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TRUMP: All I have to do is leave Iran - and we'll be doing that very soon - and they'll become tumbling down.
LIASSON: And maybe that's right. But maybe the price hikes will have lasting effects, especially with Iran now charging big fees to allow ships through the strait and continuing to control it.
FADEL: The president has also started to talk differently about regime change in Iran, which seemed to be one of the main goals originally. What's he saying now?
LIASSON: One of the hallmarks of Donald Trump's political career is that he creates his own reality by talking about something over and over again. And he's now saying that regime change has been accomplished because there are different people at the top of the regime, the others being killed by the U.S. and Israel. And, yes, the leaders of the regime have changed. He's right about that. But whether the regime itself has become any less anti-American, any less eager to cause havoc for the U.S. and its allies around the world - there's no evidence of that. But this is part of Trump's mission accomplished, saying we have regime change, and now the people running Iran are more moderate, nicer people who are easier to work with.
FADEL: So what does this all amount to?
LIASSON: I think the president is looking for an off-ramp. He wants to say that he accomplished his objectives. It looks like he's reached his political pain threshold, which is $4 a gallon of gas. And this might be the endgame of this particular excursion, as he likes to call it. But his political goals, including making sure Iran never has a nuclear weapon - there's no evidence that they have been met, and it's possible that the U.S. and Israel will have to do this kind of thing again and again and again.
FADEL: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Thank you, Mara.
LIASSON: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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