US President Donald Trump remarks to journalists as he was leaving New York after watching a basketball game

“I think we’re … very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” Trump said.

“If we go and bomb, which we can do very easily, if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing, they’ll have nothing left whatsoever, but you won’t have the Strait open for months,” he said.

“If we do the bombing, you know a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t, and … we’ll have a signed document that’s actually stronger than doing the bombing,” he added.

“What has proven to be a very powerful thing is the blockade. The blockades turned out to be much stronger than bombing, and it was really a combination with our initial thrust and then the blockade, but you know their economy is really suffering, and they’re going to make a deal.”