Trump makes admission on threat to target civilian sites: 'It's not my choice'

President Donald Trump made a stunning admission Tuesday when pressed by CNBC’s Joe Kernen about his threats to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure, suggesting the decision was not ultimately his to make.

“I think regimes only respond to certain things, and I understand your threats to bomb the bridges and the electric grid, but I don't think the regime cares about the people of Iran,” Kernen said, with Trump phoning in to CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“If you did that – I'm sure it's the last thing you'd probably want to do – it would hurt at least some of the people that we care about and why we embarked on this in the first place. So that would be, I'm sure, a last resort for you.”

Trump first threatened to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure in early April, issuing a curse-laden warning to Tehran that if it refused to re-open a critical shipping waterway to U.S.-aligned vessels, the United States would destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges, actions that would likely constitute war crimes.

Trump escalated those threats two days later with a threat to destroy Iran’s entire civilization, a genocidal threat that ignited global panic. The president ultimately walked back that threat after Washington and Tehran tentatively agreed to a two-week ceasefire, but re-issued the threat to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure on Sunday.

When asked about the threats by Kernen on Tuesday, Trump made a startling admission: “It’s not my choice,” he said without elaborating.

“But it will also hurt them, it'll hurt them militarily; they use the bridges for their weapons, for their missile movements,” Trump said, referring to his threats to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure.

Kernen pressed Trump again on his threats, asking the president about when they might be carried out as a U.S. delegation makes its way to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks with Iranian officials, which are expected to take place on Thursday.

“Just to be clear, you're saying that you need at least the prospects for a signed deal today and tomorrow or else you would resume bombing Iran?” Kernen asked.

“Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with,” Trump said. “We're ready to go, I mean, the military's raring to go, they are, absolutely!”