Trump wants all of Iraq's oil for the U.S.

CONCORD, N.H., April 29 (UPI) -- The United States should have first dibs on any oil produced in Iraq because of its lead in the invasion of the country, real estate mogul Donald Trump said.

Trump, a presumptive presidential candidate for 2012 elections in the United States, told a Fox News television producer in New Hampshire that the United States deserves Iraq's oil.

"We lost thousands of soldiers, great military people, and thousands and tens of thousands are wounded," he was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying. "And I say take the oil. Because what's going to happen is, Iran is going to take the oil the day we leave."

U.S. forces are to leave Iraq by the end of the year.

Oil production in Iraq is increasing as reconstruction progresses amid a relative decline in violence.

U.S. supermajor Exxon Mobile is one of the many companies exploring Iraqi oil fields. Iran doesn't have any oil companies involved in major exploration projects in Iraq.

Trump was responding to criticism from conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer who told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that the business tycoon and reality TV star wasn't a serious player on the U.S. political scene.

"Look Bill, that kind of talk is the stuff you expect at a guy at a bar at closing time with slurred speech," Krauthammer was quoted as saying.