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Exclusive: Trump tells The Axios Show there are "no limits" to his power after Iran war

Dave Lawler

President Trump denied that the Iran war revealed the limits of his ability to exert power, telling "The Axios Show" he still believes there are "no limits."

The big picture: Trump entered the war demanding "unconditional surrender." He ended it with a limited memorandum of understanding instead.

Trump acknowledged to Axios' Marc Caputo that he'd negotiated that deal to keep the war from turning into a global economic depression.

Still, Trump denied he was in any way humbled by that experience. Asked what he'd learned from the war about the limits to his power, he said: "There are no limits."

What he's saying: "I haven't learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but there are no limits," he continued.

Trump claimed that "we defeated them totally militarily," and even that the MOU "probably is unconditional surrender."
He argued the war had actually demonstrated America's military strength. "Who else could have done a blockade like that? I did a naval blockade where not one ship was able to get through. Some tried. It didn't last very long."

Between the lines: Trump acknowledged in the interview that the alternatives to cutting a deal could have been dire.

Trump bristled at the idea that his hawkish critics were asking why he wasn't tougher on Iran. "The only way I can get tougher is if I go in there for another two or three weeks and continue to bomb the hell out of 'em. Right? But what does that get us? The Strait of Hormuz will not be open."
"We wouldn't have oil for months. As long as you're dropping bombs, that thing is automatically closed," he said, adding later: "This is the kind of thing that could cause a worldwide depression."

Behind the scenes: Trump has privately expressed concerns that global petroleum reserves were starting to run dry, and a global oil shock could result if the strait stayed closed, according to a source familiar with his thinking.

The bottom line: That helps explain why Trump took the deal he could get, rather than the maximalist one he promised before the war.