Fox's Kilmeade Asked Trump About Kharg Island Hours Before the US Struck Military Targets There

On Thursday, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade sat down with President Donald Trump for an interview for his radio show and asked a direct question: was the president thinking about taking Kharg Island, the place where 90 percent of Iranian oil goes through? Trump, who has long been friendly with Kilmeade, appeared annoyed and tried to turn the question aside.

"I can't answer a question like that. You shouldn't ask it," Trump said. He allowed that the island was not high on the list but was one of many options, and added that he could change his mind in seconds. He then asked who would ask such a question and what fool would answer it, called it a foolish question, and said it was a little surprising coming from a smart man. "Let's say I was going to do it or let's say I wasn't going to do it, why would I tell you?" he said.

The interview aired Friday morning. By then, hours after it was recorded, Trump had announced that the military struck the island. In a social media post as he prepared to fly to Florida for the weekend, he said US Central Command had carried out one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East and had totally obliterated every military target on Kharg, which he called Iran's crown jewel.

The post also drew a line. Trump said that for reasons of decency he had chosen not to wipe out the oil infrastructure on the island. But he warned that if Iran, or anyone else, interfered with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he would immediately reconsider. Before boarding Air Force One he took questions from reporters traveling with him, but he did not mention the latest operation.

Kharg is a small coral island in the Persian Gulf, about 21 miles off Iran's coast, and it is the primary terminal for nearly all of the country's oil exports. It has storage tanks in the south and housing for thousands of workers, and gazelles roam near the refineries and depots. According to the maritime intelligence company TankerTrackers.com, Iran has exported 13.7 million barrels since the war began on February 28, and satellite imagery on Wednesday showed multiple tankers loading there. Oil supplies a significant share of Iran's $78 billion in annual revenue, with shipments going to countries such as China.

The island had been in the conversation before the strike. On Thursday, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post that Iran would abandon all restraint if the Gulf islands along its southern maritime frontier were attacked, and said Trump would be responsible for the blood of American soldiers. It was not clear what prompted his remarks. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid had urged on X last Sunday that energy infrastructure on Kharg be struck, writing that it would cripple Iran's economy and topple the regime. Israel's government officials have not publicly referenced the island. The US and Israel have both suggested widening their target lists beyond military and nuclear sites.

Analysts have long described Kharg as a vulnerability. Petras Katinas, an energy researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, said it is critical to funding Iran's government and military, and that losing control of it would make it hard for the country to function even though it is not a military or nuclear target. He said a takeover would hand the US leverage in negotiations because the island is the main node of the economy, regardless of which regime holds power. JPMorgan's commodity research team noted this week that the island has rarely been directly targeted, and warned that a direct strike would immediately halt most of Iran's crude exports and likely trigger severe retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz or against regional energy infrastructure.

For now the oil facilities stand. Whether they continue to do so depends on what happens in the Strait of Hormuz, the condition Trump attached to his decision.