He said the US could “very easily” take Iran's oil but said it “is unfortunate” that there did not seem to be patience among the American people for such an effort.

“They want to see it end,” he said.

Trump said he would prefer to take Iran's oil “but people in the country sort of say, Just win. You're winning so big. Just win. Come home.' And I'm OK with that too,” he said.

Video of the speech was posted online by a Business Insider reporter who said he noticed the White House had uploaded video of the closed-press event and downloaded it before it was later made private. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on why it took the video down.

During the private lunch US President Donald Trump Wednesday said China, Japan and South Korea should be involved in opening Strait of Hormuz.

The president has previously directed much of his anger at NATO allies for their reluctance to get involved in securing the Strait of Hormuz until the US and Israel finish prosecuting their war against Iran.

In his remarks at the private Easter lunch he hosted at the White House on Wednesday, Trump also expressed frustration with some Asian countries that are more reliant on Gulf oil than the US.

“Let South Korea, you know, we only have 45,000 soldiers in harm's way over there, right next to a nuclear force let South Korea do it,” Trump said. “Let Japan do it. They get 90 per cent of their oil from the strait. Let China do it.”

Trump also derided NATO as 'very bad allies' and 'paper tiger' during the private lunch, ahead of his address.

“NATO treated us very badly, and you have to remember it because they'll be treating us badly again if we ever need them,” Trump fumed anew about the alliance. “And hopefully, we're never going to need them. I don't think we'll need them. I don't think they can do very much.”