Donald Trump says countries the US "protected" will have to "pay us any and all costs we had for the war" with Iran. Al Jazeera reports that this is the first time he has explicitly named Israel among them.
He made the remarks in a CBS News interview with Ross Douthat that aired on Sunday 8 November. According to IBTimes, he also said: "Without us, Israel wouldn't exist".
IBTimes reports that Trump did not name the other governments or say whether any had agreed to pay. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera see the demand as political posturing. His claim that the costs will be repaid has not been independently checked.
CBS puts the cost of the war to the US at $47.1bn through mid-October, citing US Central Command figures provided to lawmakers, IBTimes reports. That is about $29bn to replace expended munitions, $6.1bn for lost equipment and about $11.9bn in additional operational costs. The estimate does not include damage to US military bases in the Middle East.
In the same interview, Douthat challenged Trump's description of Hormuz as open. He noted that vessels were transiting under substantial US military protection, according to IBTimes.