Facing mounting war costs, US President Trump eyes Arab cash

Anything Iran tells the US privately ‘will be tested’: White House

White House says Iran talks progressing despite public posturing

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump would be interested in calling on Arab countries to pay for the costs of the Iran war, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters, adding that she thinks Trump would have more to say on the issue.

Leavitt, asked at a news briefing whether Arab countries would step up to help pay for the war, says she will not get ahead of Trump, but that it was an idea that he has.

“I think it’s something the president would be quite interested in calling them to do,” Leavitt says. “It’s an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you’ll hear more from him on.”

Anything Iran tells the US privately ‘will be tested’: White House

Asked if the US trusts messaging coming out of Tehran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that anything Iran says to Washington privately “will be tested”.

“We will ensure that they are being held accountable to their word, and if they are not, the president has laid out the military consequences that the Iranian regime will see if they don’t hold true to the words that we are hearing privately behind the scenes,” she has responded.

She added that Iranian leadership appears “more reasonable” behind the scenes than “previous leaders who are no longer on planet Earth”, adding that previous leaders were killed for “lying to the United States”.

“This is another historic opportunity for Iran to do the right thing: to rid themselves of their nuclear ambitions and to come to a deal with this president of the administration, or they will see the grave consequences of the United States armed forces, which they are continuing to see every day throughout this operation,” Leavitt has stated.

White House says Iran talks progressing despite public posturing

The White House has said that talks with Iran were continuing and progressing well, adding that what Tehran says publicly differs from what it tells US officials in private, Reuters reports.

“Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well. What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what’s being communicated to us privately,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said at a press briefing.