Washington. US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he’d prefer to use US military power to take control of Iran’s vast oil reserves, but acknowledged there’s not much appetite for such a move among the American electorate.

“Take the oil because it’s there for the taking,” Trump told reporters as he and first lady Melania Trump hosted the White House Easter Egg Roll. 

“There’s not a thing they can do about it. Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil. I’d keep the oil. I would make plenty of money,” he added.

He also defended his use of vulgar language in a social media post a day earlier as he warned Iran he was serious about targeting the country’s infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline. He ended the short post by saying, “Praise be to Allah.”

Asked by a reporter about his salty language, Trump responded that he used it “only to make my point.”

Trump added about his use of an expletive, “I think you’ve heard it before.”

The conversation took place in a surreal scene on the White House lawn with flowers and Easter décor. With children waiting nearby, someone in a bunny costume steps away, and soft, cheerful music in the background, Trump decided to give reporters an update on the Iran war.

Later in the day, he held a news conference accompanied by his top national security advisers, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Also in attendance were his children, Eric and Tiffany Trump, as well as their spouses.

Declaring that “this was one of our better Easters,” Trump started his news conference by speaking about the dramatic rescue of two US airmen in Iran over the weekend.

The president began describing the rescue efforts from Friday and over the weekend after two airmen ejected and landed alive “deep in enemy territory” in Iran.

Trump said 21 aircraft were deployed to help with the search and rescue in the first wave, flying for hours under “very, very heavy enemy fire.” He said the US rescue mission had one helicopter with many bullets in it.

In total, the operation to rescue the second airman from the downed aircraft included 155 aircraft. More specifically, it included four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft, among others, Trump said.

Much of it was an effort to throw off the Iranians, who were also looking for the missing crew member, the president said.

“We were bringing them all over and a lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said. “We wanted to have them think he was in a different location.”

During the briefing, he threatened to jail the journalist who first reported that US forces were searching for an F-15 weapons officer shot down in Iran, if they don’t reveal their sources.

“The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say, and that doesn’t last long,” Trump said.

Trump didn’t name the journalist or news organization. He said the leak tipped off the Iranians, endangering the officer and his rescuers. He called the leaker “a sick person.”