“My preference has always been – take Kharg Island … my preference would be that. I don’t know that America has the stomach for it,” he said in an interview on Fox News.
Earlier, he wrote on social media: “At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets.”
After more than three months of war, Iran still has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a critical supply route for oil and gas shipping, and has retained its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The US and Iran traded air attacks on Thursday for a second day in a worsening of hostilities that has undermined prospects for a swift end to the war.
Trump said the US will attack Iran again with intensified strikes but he would rather not hit bridges and power plants.
“There will be more bombing tonight. It will be bigger – bigger, more powerful,” he said on the “Fox & Friends” programme.
Despite plans for more strikes, Trump said the US is still talking with Iran to reach a deal.
The White House did not immediately respond to a question on whether the ceasefire agreed in April remains in place.
Iranian sources and Western officials said indirect US-Iranian talks on a preliminary peace deal had intensified.
The war has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and pushed up global oil prices since the US and Israel launched heavy air strikes on Iran on February 28. (Reuters)