Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Sunday evening tweeted that the US has "reason to believe that we know" who is responsible for an attack on a Saudi Arabian oil field and the country is "locked and loaded depending on verification" following the crippling strike. "Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!" Trump said.
Trump's tweet, which appeared to raise the specter of a US military response, served to ratchet up tensions in a region already on edge after Saturday's audacious attack on the Saudi oil field.
Marc Short, the vice president's chief of staff, told reporters Monday morning that the President's claim the US is "locked and loaded" may not refer to military action.
"I think that locked and loaded is a broad term and talks about the realities that we're all far safer and more secure domestically from energy independence," Short said. "This is not the 1970s oil embargo. It's not 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. We're now a net oil exporter which means that the American market is much better protected."
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