‘BIG WIN TONIGHT’: VP Vance touts finalized Iran deal

[0:00] joining us now by phone is Vice President J.D. Vance. Mr. Vice President, thank you so much for [0:05] joining us tonight. Yeah, of course, good to be with you. This seems like, this seems like you guys [0:10] have gotten this to the finish line. It seems like there's an actual peace deal, at least at the [0:16] moment, that's agreed upon and ready for signing. I'd love for you to tell us your thoughts on it. [0:22] Well, first of all, I do think it's a big moment for the United States of America. Thanks, of course, [0:26] to the president's leadership and the hard work of the entire team. Three things that I, [0:30] I think are important for the American people just to appreciate about what this deal does [0:35] for all of us as Americans. Number one, this is the immediate opening of the Straits of Hormuz and, [0:41] of course, the lifting of the naval blockade that we've had on Iran along with it. The number two [0:46] thing that it means is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and not just pursue a nuclear [0:52] weapon, but procure or try to buy a nuclear weapon as well. That's built into this agreement. And then [0:57] the third thing is, and this only happens, to be clear, if Iran delivers on their promise. And so [1:03] there's an approach here where we verify and where there are real benefits so long as Iran meets [1:09] their end of the obligation. But if the Iranians comply with this deal, it is going to fundamentally [1:14] transform the Middle East for the next 50 years. It's going to end the war. It's going to make the [1:19] Middle East more investable. It's going to mean a lot of prosperity, lower energy prices for the [1:24] American people. This region of the world has been a basket case for my entire life and longer [1:29] than that. And what the president has really set us to do is to certainly eliminate the nuclear threat [1:34] of Iran. That's done. But now possibly to build to a new era of Middle East prosperity and success, [1:42] where it's not a region of the world where the United States has to worry about so much, [1:46] but where, frankly, we can generate a lot of prosperity for the American people [1:49] out of that region. That's a very, very big win. And it all happened because the president [1:54] stuck with it. Mr. Vice President, first of all, congratulations. [1:58] It's a great day for our country on President Trump's birthday, no less. [2:02] I wanted to ask you, Mr. Vice President, what your message is to the American people who have hung in [2:07] there amid the high gas prices, the president posting on true social, you know, fire up your [2:13] engines, let the oil flow. A lot of Americans are excited and relieved to see that. We know it's not going [2:19] to happen all at once. But what is your message to the American people when their primary concern [2:24] is that price at the pump? Well, I guess my primary message to the American people is thank you. [2:31] Because of your patience, I think that we've solved the problem that has plagued this country again [2:36] for well before I was even born, which is a terrorist supporting Iran that was pursuing a nuclear [2:42] weapon. We are now at a place here where we can say with confidence they're not going to get a nuclear [2:46] weapon. And again, if they comply with the broader elements of the deal, this entire region, I mean, [2:52] think about this. For 40 years, if you've heard about the Middle East as an American, you've heard [2:58] about war, you've heard about terrorism, you've heard about the constant chaos of the region. [3:02] What the president has done is created the real space to transform that region, cooperation between [3:10] the Gulf Arab allies and the Israelis, and now hopefully a new era with the Iranians. Again, [3:16] we're going to verify and ensure that they're meeting their end of the bargain. But this is just a great [3:21] thing for the American people. I know that they've suffered from high gas prices. The president has [3:26] certainly been very concerned about that fact. But what we're going to be able to do is drive down [3:31] the cost of energy, not just now, but for the long term, and create a real engine of prosperity in the [3:37] Middle East, where Americans benefit from those lower energy prices, lower gas prices, and we don't [3:43] have the same risk of chaos that we've had for the last generation. That's big, big wins for the [3:48] American people. I know that this has been a hard time for a lot of Americans, but we've achieved [3:53] something great for them. I think Trey has got a question for you, Mr. Vice President. [4:00] Mr. Vice President, Trey Yinks here in Tel Aviv. I wanted to ask you about the behind the scenes [4:05] tonight. We saw this announcement by the Iranians that they were planning to strike [4:10] Israel after Israeli strikes targeted the Lebanese capital of Beirut, going after Hezbollah there. [4:16] And ultimately, this agreement was reached, a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon. [4:21] Could you take us behind the scenes of what that moment was like leading up to this deal actually [4:26] being signed? Well, Trey, you're exactly right. I mean, after the Israelis struck Beirut, we were very [4:32] worried. We saw a lot of evidence that the Iranians were going to launch a large number of missiles at [4:37] the Israelis. With our communication with them over the course of getting to this signed peace deal, [4:44] they assured us that they were not going to respond to the Israelis, and they were going to [4:49] sign this agreement and get to peace. Now, of course, you always have to verify these things, [4:54] Trey, and we know that there are a lot of people in the Middle East who do not want to make this deal [4:59] happen. There's, of course, the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Some elements of that organization [5:04] are still threatening the Israelis. You have a number of different pieces that are moving. And [5:10] as you know, Trey, sometimes these ceasefires take a little bit of time to take root. People are very [5:15] good over there at fighting each other. They haven't quite learned how to make peace. But I think under [5:20] the president's leadership, we've turned over a new leaf. We're going to keep on working at it. [5:24] I'm not going to say that everybody's going to sing kumbaya tomorrow. It's going to take a little bit [5:29] to learn the ways of peace. But I do think we took a major, major step tonight. [5:35] Mr. Vice President, it's Guy Benson. Go ahead, Trey. [5:40] Mr. Vice President, we understand there will be a signing ceremony in Geneva, [5:44] Switzerland later this week. Will you attend that ceremony? [5:48] I think we're still figuring out the logistics on who's going to attend that signing ceremony. I [5:52] certainly plan to be there, but it's possible the president himself could be there. We'll figure [5:57] it out, Trey. But what we know is that we've got a lot of work to do, but a very big win for the [6:03] American people tonight. We're just going to keep on working at it, keep on driving energy prices down, [6:08] keep on ensuring that that region of the world is less of a basket case. And finally, and most [6:12] importantly, celebrate the fact that I think we can say with confidence Iran will never have a nuclear [6:17] weapon. We've got a lot of work to do, but a big win tonight. Thank you all. [6:22] Thank you, Mr. Vice President.