<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>President Donald Trump said on Saturday that it was inconsequential </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-has-provided-iran-with-information-that-can-help-tehran-strike-us-military-ap-sources-say/64ae102a-de8d-4c2b-ad25-6b110b5b3fef" rel="" target="" title=" if Russia has provided Iran with information"><span>if Russia has provided Iran with information</span></a><span> to help Tehran target US military personnel and assets in the Middle East as the week-old war rages.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The president dismissed the import of such information-sharing after he attended the dignified transfer for </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-attack-iran-trump-insists-us-not-behind-deadly-school-strike/6ce3b9b7-1668-45e7-b04f-b4f0f9eeb3ce" rel="" target="" title="six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike"><span>six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike</span></a><span> in Kuwait the day after the US and Israel launched a war on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iran "><span>Iran </span></a><span>that has unsettled the global economy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump stopped short of confirming reports by The Associated Press and other news outlets that US intelligence officials believe Russia has provided Iran with such targeting information.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/ian-huntley-dead-soham-murders-holly-wells-jessica-chapman-uk/9607f21a-5544-4370-a554-45e1a18bd8b9"><strong><span>Notorious child killer dead after prison attack in UK</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But if Moscow is passing on such details, he said Iran was getting little out of it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Miami, where he's spending the rest of the weekend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The president also waved off a question about how Russia assisting Iran in such a way might affect his view of the US-Russia relationship.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/trump-downplays-importance-of-russia-reportedly-sharing-intel-with-iran-to-help-it-hit-us-targets/a5ec2a5b-fc24-424f-85ef-47d9334634ad" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They’d say we do it against them,” Trump responded. “Wouldn’t they say that we do it against them?”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-weather-forecast-update-flash-flooding-sunshine-coast-rain/d085e525-168b-4db1-957a-7985688e40aa"><strong><span>'Stay inside': Large parts of Queensland brace for severe rain, flash floods</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Downplaying the significance of Russia handing off battlespace intelligence to Iran came after the US Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it was temporarily allowing India to keep buying crude oil and petroleum products from Russia for a month, until April 4.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The administration decision to grant the world's most populous country a temporary exemption faced bipartisan blowback. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb, condemned the move, saying in a post on X that “weakness towards Russia is appalling."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., in his own X post directed at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also decried the administration's decision.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Reverse your decision to lift oil sanctions on Russia. It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” Lieu said. “Meanwhile, Russia is assisting Iran in targeting American troops.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has decided to give India leeway on oil purchases from Russia as global oil prices surge and investors across sectors worry about how long the Iran war will last.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-attack-iran-trump-blast-at-british-pm/132e5f1b-b3a9-48ea-986a-4c4225cec09b" rel="" target="" title="Trump blasts UK for 'finally' considering deploying aircraft carriers"><strong><span>Trump blasts UK for 'finally' considering deploying aircraft carriers</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The waiver for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government followed Trump announcing weeks ago that he was cutting tariffs on India after their officials agreed to reduce its reliance on cheap Russian crude.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>India has taken advantage of reduced Russian oil prices as much of the world has sought to isolate Moscow for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The price of oil has surged higher and shows no signs of halting a week into a war that the US and Israel launched and has widened through the Middle East as Tehran strikes back.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-attack-iran-dubai-airport-drone-attack/cd39db6a-545c-4830-ad91-7bad5641ac4b" rel="" target="" title="Explosion rocks Dubai international airport, passengers forced to take shelter"><strong><span>Explosion rocks Dubai international airport, passengers forced to take shelter</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ships that carry roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are unable to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that is bordered on its north side by Iran.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The shipping disruption and damage to key Middle East oil and gas facilities has interrupted supplies from some of the world’s largest oil producers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked whether he was willing to take other steps to ease oil prices, Trump said that “if there were some, I would do it, just to take a little of the pressure off.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He appeared Saturday to wave off, at least for now, the possibility of tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying the US has a “lot of oil.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The reserve — a supply of oil that the US government can tap in case of emergencies — held more than 415 million barrels as of the end of last month, up from about 395 million barrels at this time in 2025. In total, when full, the SPR can hold more than 700 million barrels.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We’ve got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount,” Trump said. “There’s a lot of oil out there. That’ll get healed very quickly.”</span></div></div>