On Tuesday morning, President Trump engaged in a brief telephone interview with Joe Kernen on CNBC’s Squawk Box, discussing his outlook on the ongoing negotiations.
President Trump expressed skepticism about the negotiations’ success. He noted that despite Iran’s leadership initially stating they would not join the talks in Islamabad, they are participating as long as the U.S. maintains its blockade of Iranian ports. Trump emphasized that their participation is under pressure, stating, “They just got the okay to go forward, which I knew they were going to do anyway. I mean, I don’t think they had a choice. They have to negotiate.”
Trump presented Iran with a clear choice: “Iran can position themselves favorably. If they strike a deal, they can transform into a strong and prosperous nation. They have incredible people, but their leadership is, unfortunately, driven by aggression. We are much tougher than they are — there’s no comparison. They need to apply reason and common sense to elevate themselves into a legitimate, thriving country, not one rooted in violence and fear.”
When Kernen inquired if Trump would consider extending the talks if progress was evident, Trump replied, “Well, I don’t want to do that.” This response appears to dismiss Pakistan’s suggestion of prolonging the ceasefire by an additional two weeks.
Trump lays out a stark choice for Iran: “And you know, the one thing I’ll say is this: Iran can get themselves in very good footing. If they make a deal, they can make themselves into a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again. They have incredible people, but they seem to be, you know, bloodthirsty. They’re led by some very, very unfortunately tough people. And I don’t mean tough in a good way. I think it’s very negative for the country because we’re much tougher than they are — like not even close. But they have to use reason and they have to use common sense, and they can get themselves into a great position to make themselves into a great country, but a legitimate country, not a country based on death and horror.”
Kernen had previously asked Trump, “If it looks like things are progressing, will you not necessarily extend it to a definitive amount of time, but will you let it keep going if there’s progress in the talks before taking action?” To which Trump responded, “Well, I don’t want to do that.” This seems to take off the table Pakistan’s proposal for adding another two weeks onto the ceasefire
Kernen cuts to the chase, asking, “So, to be clear, you’re saying that you need at least the prospect for a signed deal today and tomorrow, or else you would resume bombing Iran?”
Trump’s reply ought to be thundering through the tunnels under Tehran, where Iran’s government is cowering and befouling themselves, “Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with. But we’re ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.”
All that has happened for the entirety of the ceasefire is that Iran has played us along. Their failure to deliver on even the most rudimentary portion of the ceasefire agreement, opening the Strait of Hormuz, and then using the ceasefire to push their unreasonable and illegal demand that an international waterway be handed over to them showed a degree of bad faith that deserved a rain of JDAMs. It certainly didn’t merit sending our Vice President off to talk to thugs and murderers who do not have the authority to make a deal.
Full Transcript
JOE KERNEN: Joining us now on the news line, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump, welcome. Thanks for joining us this morning.
TRUMP: Well, thank you very much, Joe.
HOST: You are very welcome. Can you give us — I think it’s on everyone’s mind — the latest on where the Iran negotiations stand? We now know Tehran has publicly confirmed that it will send representatives to the meeting with Vice President Vance. What do you expect? What are you hearing at this point, sir?
TRUMP: Well, as I said two days ago, when they said they won’t send them, I said they’ll be sending them. They have no choice but to send them. What I think is that we’re going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice. We’ve taken out their navy, we’ve taken out their air force, we’ve taken out their leaders, frankly, which does complicate things in one way. But these leaders are much more rational.
It is regime change, no matter what you want to call it, which is not something I said I was going to do. But I’ve done it indirectly, maybe, but I’ve done it. And I think we’re in a very strong negotiating position to do what other presidents should have done during a 47‑year period. We have 47 years with these bloodthirsty people, have been killing a lot of soldiers — a lot of our soldiers and a lot of other people. They killed 42,000 people over the last two months. And, you know, you get to a point where people don’t want to mention that. They don’t like mentioning that. Forty‑two thousand unarmed protesters, innocent unarmed protesters, many of them hung.
So, we’re not dealing with the nicest group of people, but we’re dealing with them very successfully. And the blockade has been a tremendous success. They said two days ago, “We will open the strait.” I said, “No, we’re not going to open the strait until we have a final deal.” No, no, we want to open the strait. They said, “We’re not opening.” We totally control the strait, just so you understand, for all the fake news out there.
JOE KERNEN: And Mr. President, we’ve seen 100 days of the largest protests in Iran since the revolution in 1979. And I know how much you respect and admire and are concerned with the Iranian people themselves. And this is, I think, in large degree one of the reasons you decided to embark on this whole thing, maybe among other things. But the timing was right.
If we get close in negotiations right now, but the deadline for the ceasefire is tomorrow — if it looks like things are progressing, will you not necessarily extend it to a definitive amount of time, but will you let it keep going if there’s progress in the talks before taking action?
TRUMP: Well, I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time because by the time both parties get there — you know, they just got the okay to go forward, which I knew they were going to do anyway. I mean, I don’t think they had a choice. They have to negotiate.
And you know, the one thing I’ll say is this: Iran can get themselves in very good footing. If they make a deal, they can make themselves into a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again. They have incredible people, but they seem to be, you know, bloodthirsty. They’re led by some very, very unfortunately tough people. And I don’t mean tough in a good way. I think it’s very negative for the country because we’re much tougher than they are — like not even close. But they have to use reason and they have to use common sense, and they can get themselves into a great position to make themselves into a great country, but a legitimate country, not a country based on death and horror.
JOE KERNEN: And 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. And if you did that — I’m sure it’s the last thing you’d probably want to do — but 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: It’s not my choice, but it will also hit them. It’ll hurt them militarily. They use the bridges for their weapons, for their missile movements. You know, they’re trying to move the missiles because we’ve obliterated most of their missiles, and they’re trying to move their missiles around even during the ceasefire, which I think was a good thing because we’re totally loaded up. We have so much ammo. We have so much of everything that we have — like much, much more powerful than it was four or five weeks ago.
So, we’ve used this to restock, and they probably have done a little bit of restocking. We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice — a gift from China perhaps, I don’t know — but I was a little surprised. But because I have a very good relationship and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi, but that’s all right. That’s the way war goes, right?
But I will tell you that our military is incredible. What we’ve done — I mean, think of it: in the first three days, we took out their entire navy. One hundred fifty‑nine ships. One hundred fifty‑nine ships. And wiped out their air force, wiped out their anti‑aircraft — all of their anti‑aircraft apparatus is all gone, all of their radar is gone, their leaders are gone. You know, their leaders are gone. The whole thing is gone. And frankly, this should have been done a long time ago. It would have been a lot easier because they were a lot less lethal a long time ago.
JOE KERNEN: So, to be clear, you’re saying that you need at least the prospect for a signed deal today and tomorrow, or else you would resume bombing Iran?
TRUMP: Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with. But we’re ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go. They are absolutely incredible. You know, I built the military in my first term. I’m using it now. The military, when I took it over from Barack Hussein Obama, they had just — it was so depleted, so sad. And I built it in my first term. You remember those big numbers? You talked to me about it once. That’s a lot of money for military. I built it. We did a great job with our military, and we’re using it.
For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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