‘11TH HOUR MEETING’: Trump reveals STUNNING Iran revelation

[0:00] The United States and Iran trading multiple rounds of strikes over the weekend, Iran launching missile and drone attacks on U.S. military facilities across several Gulf states. [0:10] Our allies, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Jordan, while warning that there could be more incidents in the Strait of Hormuz. [0:16] SETCOM forces, excuse me, responding with a new round of strikes targeting Iranian military sites late last night. [0:24] President Trump discussing the latest on Fox News this morning. [0:28] Listen. [0:28] Over the Strait, they have nothing. They've got nothing. [0:34] So something that nobody knows, yesterday they had an 11-hour meeting. [0:38] Everything's 11 hours with these guys. You know, you can't settle a one sentence in one hour, in one minute, every one minute. [0:44] And everything was agreed to yesterday. And they called back and they said, we had to make a couple of changes. [0:57] I said, changes? They're going to make changes? We're not going to make changes. [1:00] We're going to keep the Strait and we'll probably run it. We'll become the Guardian of the Strait. [1:05] Maybe we'll call it the Guardian Angel of the Strait. [1:09] When we do that, we're going to be reimbursed because the other nations are very wealthy. [1:13] They're on our side. Can't be expected to do that for nothing. [1:18] Joining me now, Heritage Foundation National Security Vice President Victoria Coates. [1:22] Victoria, so where do we stand with Iran, in your opinion, this morning? [1:26] We've had another weekend of strikes traded back and forth. [1:29] You heard the president. You know, they have all these, they have hours of talks. [1:32] They walk out of the room, then they strike. [1:34] Well, Cheryl, good to be with you. Yes, I think that, you know, the president's quite frustrated with the Iranians. [1:41] I think we all are. The deal here is clear. [1:44] But what he's declared at the end of last week is the ceasefire is over. [1:48] So he's retained every right to strike them wherever, whenever he wants, wherever he wants. [1:53] They can't do anything about it. So we saw, you know, 140 strikes last night. [1:58] Also, very importantly, on Friday, Secretary Besant announced sanctions on a man named Ali Ansari, [2:05] who is essentially the banker to the Supreme Leader. [2:08] He runs their real estate empire around the world. [2:11] And he was operating with impunity out of Dubai and UAE. [2:15] Now, that's over. That gravy train is going to get cut off. [2:18] And that's going to hurt the new Supreme Leader where it really does hurt in his wallet. [2:23] So that's going after the personal finances of the leadership. [2:27] And I think that's going to start to put the real squeeze on them to force them ultimately into this deal. [2:32] Well, I thought, that's why I thought, and I emphasized this morning, the fact that you're going after, [2:37] I mean, they were going after U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, in Qatar, the UAE. [2:42] But, you know, those Gulf neighbors have now turned, you know, Iran into the pariah that we knew they were for decades. [2:50] But how much are they willing to do about it, I think, is the question, Victoria? [2:55] Well, that's what we're starting to see here. [2:57] And I think that's really important. [2:58] So also, Cheryl, keep an eye on Oman, because Oman is on the other side of the strait from Iran. [3:04] They're doing a really, really good job economically. [3:07] They're climbing by 19 points this year in the Heritage's Index of Economic Freedom. [3:12] They're a real success story in the Gulf. [3:14] Not a huge energy producer like Kuwait or UAE or Saudi, but doing a great job organizing their economy. [3:23] They should have nothing to do with Iran. [3:24] They should embrace that principle of free commerce and say, hey, our side of the strait is open. [3:30] And I think you would see President Trump and the rest of the administration really embrace them. [3:35] And the fact that Iran took a shot at Oman last night, the one that they should be trying to partner with, [3:41] shows you they don't know what they're doing. [3:43] They're just taking pot shots at this point. [3:45] I don't think there's a lot of command and control coming out of Tehran. [3:48] That makes the situation even harder to deal with. [3:50] There was a lengthy piece, I believe, in Politico this morning about the fact that, you know, [3:54] the Iranian, we took out so many layers of Iranian leadership [3:57] that there's no communication happening and there's really no decision maker. [4:02] You know, we've been saying that from the beginning, who are we negotiating with? [4:06] And you've got completely different factions within, you know, the Iranian leadership, [4:10] which is, you know, again, been somewhat decimated. [4:13] And the president has been saying that over and over. [4:14] You know, we've crushed them. [4:15] We've killed their military. [4:16] We've, you know, killed their leadership. [4:18] I mean, so what's left? [4:20] So it's something we're going to be watching. [4:21] I want to ask you about China because China is pushing back on the South China Sea arbitration ruling [4:27] on its 10th anniversary. [4:28] Now, this comes in direct response to a joint statement by the U.S. and other allies, [4:33] reaffirming their commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region. [4:38] I spoke to Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang earlier, [4:41] warning against China's expansionist ambitions. [4:45] Listen to what he told us earlier. [4:48] China rejects that ruling even though it's by treaty obligated to follow it. [4:52] But the thing here is that it's not just South China Sea anymore. [4:56] You have China laying a sovereignty claim to part of the Pacific Ocean. [5:01] I mean, this is just ludicrous. [5:03] But yes, China is moving towards Hawaii. [5:06] And we've got to understand how far the Chinese are going to go [5:09] because Xi Jinping is not going to stop. [5:11] He's going to continue going. [5:13] You know, Victoria Xi Jinping is also, [5:15] he's stated recently that his backing and friendship with Kim Jong-un in North Korea isn't changing [5:20] and that he wants to safeguard both countries as global tensions rise. [5:25] Your reaction? [5:28] No, I think Gordon's absolutely correct. [5:30] China's going to just keep pushing at the edges, [5:32] keep trying to expand the territory they control. [5:36] And we really just can't stand for it. [5:37] And there are a couple of reasons for that, Cheryl. [5:39] First and foremost, China's the biggest threat for us. [5:42] If they're starting to encroach toward Hawaii, [5:44] toward sovereign U.S. territory, [5:46] or a United States state, [5:48] then that has to be pushed back against. [5:50] But then also, as we look at the globe right now, [5:53] and we're looking for economic opportunities for the United States, [5:57] not only is the Indo-Pacific the source of that great threat, [6:01] it's the source of our greatest opportunity for economic expansion. [6:05] We have, you know, peer nations like Japan, South Korea. [6:08] We have huge opportunities in Taiwan, [6:11] partnership with Australia, [6:12] but then developing nations, Cambodia, Vietnam. [6:15] This is where, in India, you know, an incredible opportunity. [6:18] This is where the action is going to be going forward. [6:21] This is where all the growth opportunities are. [6:23] So it's not just the security threat. [6:25] It's also the economic opportunity in the Indo-Pacific [6:28] that really commands our attention here. [6:30] And that's why we can't stand for China just continuing [6:33] to try to bully its way into a bigger sphere of influence. [6:38] Yes, which makes the stakes so high, [6:39] considering that the president invited Xi Jinping [6:42] to the United States in September for a summit. [6:46] I want to ask you about Ukraine, [6:48] because President Zelenskyy is set to meet with leaders of the EU today in Paris. [6:52] He's pushing for more defense support from his Western allies. [6:55] Kiev is now facing massive shortages. [6:58] Russia launched missile drone attacks on a weapons facility [7:00] that was just outside of the city over the weekend. [7:04] Eight people died. [7:05] Dozens were wounded. [7:06] You know, Ukraine retaliated. [7:08] They put more strikes out against Russia's key infrastructure. [7:11] They went after an oil tanker in the Black Sea Canal way. [7:14] The Ukrainian military reportedly attacked over 40 Russian tankers [7:18] in the last few weeks. [7:19] I mean, are we any closer to ending this almost five-year war? [7:23] And I would like to get your comment on the fact that [7:25] that Senator Lindsey Graham, that was his last trip. [7:28] He came, he was in Kiev on Friday. [7:31] And then he obviously came home and he passed away tragically [7:34] over the weekend. [7:35] What do you think this means for Ukraine? [7:37] Because Senator Graham was pushing and said that the Trump administration [7:40] was, had agreed to lay down more sanctions on Russia. [7:45] Is that, is that stalled now because of Senator Graham's death, do you think? [7:49] Oh, no, I don't, I don't, I don't think so. [7:53] And, you know, there's broad bipartisan support for sanctioning Russia and for cutting out, [7:58] you know, Putin's financing for his war machine. [8:01] And certainly with the United States now far outstripping Russia in terms of energy production, [8:06] we're at, what, 13.6 million barrels a day, Russia's at nine and change. [8:11] If we continue that expansion, Russia becomes, you know, [8:14] less and less of, you know, critical player for us, for United States interests. [8:19] But I think also, you know, Ukraine's been doing a lot of things, right, [8:22] putting a lot of pressure on Russia in terms of, of its, of degrading its, its energy infrastructure, [8:30] its ability to refine crude oil into, into actual usable products. [8:34] So I think that's going to help us get to the table. [8:37] And that's something Senator Graham said, you know, as he was coming back from this trip, [8:41] that we were getting some momentum on Ukraine's side. [8:43] And so, yes, you know, obviously, Senator Graham and I didn't agree on a lot of things. [8:48] He was absolutely wonderful, warm, funny person. [8:51] We enjoyed the debate on, on these various topics. [8:55] And I really think, you know, from a personal standpoint, [8:58] the greatest loss for President Trump is that independent voice. [9:02] You know, Senator Graham had his job. [9:04] President Trump has his. [9:05] They were good friends. [9:06] And the president can trust Senator Graham to just be honest with him, [9:09] tell him what he thought he wasn't beholden to the president for a job. [9:13] And that was a really, really valuable sounding board, I think. [9:16] So he will be dearly missed by all of his colleagues, I believe, [9:20] in the Senate and by the president as well. [9:23] Absolutely. [9:23] No, absolutely. [9:24] Victoria Coates, thank you so much for your perspective this morning. [9:28] It's great to see you, Victoria. [9:30] Thank you, Cheryl. [9:30] All right.