Trump Takes Questions After Issuing 'Shoot And Kill' Order To US Navy In Hormuz Strait

[0:00] Could you talk a little bit about why your Navy [0:02] Secretary was fired yesterday, sir? [0:04] Secretary Mnuchin, Jr.: He's a wonderful guy. [0:06] I just put out a statement about him. [0:08] Very — he's a very good man. [0:09] I love — I really liked him. [0:10] But he had some conflict with — not necessarily, [0:14] Pete, with some other — he's a hard charger. [0:16] And he had some conflicts with some other people, [0:19] mostly as to building and buying new ships. [0:23] I'm very aggressive in the new shipbuilding. [0:26] And somehow, he just didn't get along with them. [0:29] He's an excellent guy. [0:31] I think he would have gotten along great with me. [0:33] I didn't really deal with him too much. [0:34] But he's a — you know, I consider him to have done a very good job. [0:39] I put out a nice statement about him. [0:42] You've got to get along, especially in the military. [0:44] You've got to get along, you know. [0:46] And some people liked him. [0:48] Some people didn't. [0:49] And that's usually the truth about everything. [0:52] But I found him to be a very good man. [0:53] And I liked him a lot. [0:55] The Pressure on the war with Iran. [0:59] How long are you willing to wait until you get a unified response? [1:02] Well, don't rush me. [1:02] Don't rush me, Jeff. [1:05] You know, guys like you, you want to say, [1:06] Oh, so we were in Vietnam, like, for 18 years. [1:09] We were in Iraq for many, many years. [1:12] We were in for all the — I don't like to say World War II, [1:15] because that was a biggie. [1:17] But we were four and a half, almost five years in World War II. [1:20] We were in the Korean War for seven years. [1:23] I've been doing this for six weeks. [1:27] And we're — their military is totally defeated. [1:29] They're — they're outside of the little Wiseguy ships. [1:34] I call them the Wiseguy ships, the little boats that they have, [1:37] running around with guns in them. [1:40] We'll take them out, too, when we see them. [1:43] But their Navy is gone. [1:44] Their Air Force is gone. [1:46] Their anti-aircraft is gone. [1:48] All of their anti-aircraft machinery is gone. [1:51] Maybe they loaded up a little bit during the two-week hiatus. [1:54] But we'll knock that out in about one day, if they did. [1:58] We've done an amazing job. [1:59] Their leaders are gone. [2:00] You know, their leaders are all gone. [2:02] Part of the problem is that — that's why I can't really answer your question — [2:07] they have all new leadership, and they're fighting like cats and dogs [2:10] for who's going to control. [2:13] Because we've created a real mess for them, [2:16] but they've created a mess for the world over the last 47 years. [2:20] They've killed a lot of our people. [2:22] When you see a soldier, a young person or now an older person, [2:26] but a person without legs or without arms or with a face that got blown to pieces, [2:31] most likely it was from Iran. [2:33] That was Soleimani who I killed. [2:36] Soleimani loved the roadside bomb. [2:38] He was an evil genius. [2:39] He was a brilliant general. [2:40] Probably we wouldn't be as far advanced had I not taken him out. [2:43] That was the beginning of it all. [2:46] And then I ended the Obama horror show. [2:50] The nuclear transaction that he made was horror. [2:54] It gave him a road to the — you call it — I mean, what the deal that he did, [2:59] the Iran nuclear deal, was so bad, it gave him a road to a nuclear weapon. [3:03] And I will tell you, I deal with him. [3:05] You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon. [3:07] This is all about a nuclear weapon. [3:08] They cannot have the nuclear bomb, and they're not going to have the nuclear bomb. [3:12] So we've taken out their military. [3:14] We've hit about 75 percent of our targets. [3:17] We stopped a little early because they wanted to have some peace. [3:22] And we have a blockade that's 100 percent effective, [3:29] and they're getting no business. [3:31] And as you know, they're not doing well economically, financially. [3:35] They're not doing any business because of the blockade. [3:38] They want to make a deal. [3:39] We have been speaking to them, but they don't even know [3:43] who's leading the country. [3:44] They're in turmoil. [3:46] They're in turmoil. [3:46] So we thought we'd give them a little chance to get some of their turmoil resolved. [3:51] But, you know, and I hope the fake news — people like you — [3:55] I hope the fake news are going to be able to write about it accurately. [3:57] Because when you say, oh, they're fighting very well — [3:59] they're not fighting well. [4:00] They were — they've been obliterated, Jeff. [4:02] Obliterated. [4:05] 159 ships are in the Navy. [4:07] You know how many ships are at the bottom of the sea, Jeff? [4:11] 159. [4:14] So, you know, and if you read the New York Times, [4:17] the failing New York Times, subscriptions are way down, as you know. [4:21] That's because people don't believe this stuff anymore. [4:24] If you watch CNN, you'd think that they're doing well in the war. [4:27] They're not doing well. [4:28] They're getting absolutely decimated. [4:31] Now, with all of that being said, we'll see what happens. [4:34] They have a lot of — we have no pressure. [4:36] It's only guys like you with a question like that about, [4:39] what's your time — we've been doing it for five and a half weeks. [4:42] But, sir, it's been eight weeks that the U.S. now has been involved with Iran. [4:47] You had initially said it would be four to six weeks. [4:49] Well, I hope that, but I also took a little break. [4:52] I gave them a break. [4:53] And remember this, I want to make the best deal. [4:58] I could make a deal right now. [4:59] Do you know that if I left right now, we had a tremendous success. [5:03] It would take them 20 years to rebuild. [5:05] But I don't want to do that. [5:06] I want to have it everlasting. [5:08] I want to have it where they never get — they never have a chance to get — I mean, [5:12] the way you asked that question, yeah, I did say it. [5:14] I thought it would take four to six weeks. [5:17] And I was right, because at the end of six weeks, at the end of four weeks, [5:21] the military was decimated. [5:23] But now what I'm doing — I don't — I can't tell you that. [5:26] I don't want to put that kind of a timetable on it, but it'll go pretty quickly. [5:30] And we'll have the strait opened up. [5:34] Now, right now, we have it closed. [5:35] We have total control of the strait, and the fact that it's closed — you know, [5:39] they would have opened it up three days ago. [5:40] They came to us, and they said, we will agree to open the strait. [5:45] And all my people were happy. [5:46] Everybody was happy except me. [5:47] I said, wait a minute. [5:48] If we open the strait, that means they're going to make $500 million a day. [5:52] I don't want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing. [5:56] So I'm the one that kept it closed. [5:58] We have total control of it. [6:00] And it'll open when they make a deal, or something else happens that's very positive. [6:05] But what is the impression that the American — excuse me — what do you say to the American [6:08] people who question how much longer this will take? [6:11] Obviously, you know that they are having — [6:13] You hear such a disgrace. [6:14] Did you hear what I just said? [6:16] Vietnam. [6:16] How many years was Vietnam? [6:18] I understand, sir. [6:18] But you are past your six-week deadline. [6:20] Well, I did my — I took — [6:22] I took — [6:23] I took the country out militarily in the first four weeks. [6:30] I took it out militarily. [6:33] Now what we're doing is sitting back and seeing what deal. [6:36] And if they don't want to make a deal, then I'll finish it up [6:39] militarily with the other 25 percent of the targets. [6:41] We've hit 78 percent of the targets that we've wanted to hit. [6:45] We've knocked out their manufacturing. [6:47] We've knocked out their missile production. [6:49] We've knocked out their drone production. [6:51] We've knocked out everything. [6:52] In some cases, when I say knocked it out 70, 80, 90 percent, [6:58] it's amazing what we've done. [7:00] So I've done that within that period of time that I mentioned. [7:03] But I don't want to rush myself, you know, because every story says, [7:06] oh, Trump is under time pressure. [7:07] I'm not — no, no. [7:08] You know who's under time pressure? [7:09] They are. [7:10] Because if they don't get their oil moving, [7:12] their whole oil infrastructure is going to explode. [7:15] You know what that means? [7:17] Because they have no place to store it. [7:19] And because they have no place to store it, if they have to stop it, [7:23] something happens that only Len can explain. [7:26] Something happens underground that essentially renders it in very poor shape, [7:32] and you never recover fully. [7:34] You can recover 50, 60 percent, but you can never have it like it is right now. [7:38] And they have a matter of days before that event takes place. [7:42] So I'm not under any pressure whatsoever. [7:45] We've never had so much ammunition. [7:47] Our ships are loaded. [7:49] I call them locked and loaded. [7:50] They're locked and loaded. [7:51] They're ready to go. [7:52] We have much higher quality equipment than we did when we first started the war [7:58] and — or the military operation, whatever you want to call it. [8:02] And they're coming to us. [8:04] The problem they have is they are very disorganized right now. [8:08] Well, now yesterday — and I was very pleased with this — [8:11] eight young women were going to be [8:14] executed yesterday afternoon at six o'clock. [8:17] And I asked them, call it a favor or call it just a moral request [8:24] that they not be executed. [8:25] And they came back with an answer that they won't be executed. [8:28] They're going to release — it was protesting — [8:31] eight beautiful young women, very young women. [8:34] And they were — the pictures are in the paper. [8:36] And it's been a story for a little while, and I saw that. [8:38] And I said, let's see if we can save them. [8:41] And they were — it was very nice what happened. [8:44] So they're not going to be — what they're doing is, as you know, [8:47] they're releasing four of them very shortly. [8:50] And they're going to keep four of them in jail for a period of one month and release them. [8:54] So they won't be executed. Yeah, please. [8:55] So if you're asking for more time to sort out negotiations — [8:58] I'm not asking you for more time. I'm not asking for them, no. [9:01] It's not more time. I'm just — I'm not asking anybody for more time. [9:04] If you need more time, does that mean Americans should anticipate [9:08] spending more on gasoline for the foreseeable future? [9:11] For a little while. And you know what they get for that? [9:13] You know what they get for that? Iran without a nuclear weapon [9:16] that's going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East. [9:20] You want to see what shock would be? And I have to be honest, [9:24] the stock market is at an all-time high right now. [9:28] I thought it would have been down 20, 25 percent. [9:30] When we hit — wait a minute. Can I finish my question? [9:33] Wise guy. Stock market's at an all-time high right now. [9:39] I projected — and I'm pretty good at this — that the stock market, Howard, would drop [9:43] maybe 20 percent, 25 percent. And I understood that. And I said, [9:48] hey, it's a bad thing, but I have to do what's right for the country, even the world, [9:51] because you can't have them — you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon. [9:55] So the stock market, unlike what a lot of people were predicting, [10:01] I thought they weren't necessarily wrong. The stock market today hit an all-time high. [10:06] Hit an all-time high yesterday, the day before. And it's staying there. [10:10] I thought oil would go up to maybe $200 a barrel. And oil is a very different number than anyone [10:18] thought. In fact, this country is much lower, because we have all the oil we can use. [10:23] We're actually — ships are coming from all over the world to Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska. [10:28] They're coming from all over the world to get oil from the United States, you know, [10:32] while this is closed, the Hormones Strait. So if you look at what I said, [10:39] I guess it was right, because I said I'd have it four to six weeks. And in four weeks, [10:43] we have totally defeated that military. So right now, I don't want to rush it, [10:47] because you guys are, you know, trying to make us look as bad as possible. [10:51] I don't want to rush it. I want to take my time. We have plenty of time. [10:54] And I want to get a great deal. I want to get a deal where our nation and the world is safe [10:58] from lunatics with nuclear weapons. [11:01] And if it does — if it does go to 200, are you okay with that, sir? [11:05] If oil goes to 200? [11:07] I think that there's nothing worse than a nuclear weapon that takes out one of your [11:11] cities or two of your cities or three. I think there's nothing worse than a nuclear weapon [11:15] that's going to destroy the Middle East, including Israel. I think there's nothing worse than Europe [11:21] being under-attacked by people that have missiles now that reach Europe, as you know. They don't reach [11:26] us, but they reach Europe. But they will reach us at some time. And probably the not-too-distant [11:31] future, unless we stop them now. I think there would be nothing worse than having nuclear holocaust [11:37] in Europe, London, Paris, various places in Germany, all targeted. No. What I — what I say is, [11:48] you can't let them have — I don't think it will happen, by the way. I really think we — we actually — it [11:53] turns out that we are Drill Baby Drill. And it turns out we're producing a lot of oil, [11:58] and they're buying the oil. They're going to Alaska. They're going to Texas, Louisiana. [12:04] And our guys have done a fantastic job. We're putting out, right now, more oil and gas than [12:08] we ever have in the history of our country. And one other thing — there are more people employed [12:13] today in the United States than ever in the history of our country. Okay. [12:17] Mr. President, I have a question, sir. Is it true that your administration is considering [12:21] sending 1,100 Afghans to the Democratic Republic of Congo? And if so, do you have a response? [12:26] Mr. I don't know. I'd have to check that. [12:27] Mr. President, do you plan to pick up — [12:29] Mr. President, please. [12:30] Mr. Thank you, Mr. President. [12:31] Breitbart News' Matt Boyle just published an interview with Greek [12:35] Prime Minister Mitsotakis, in which the Prime Minister said that he's rooting for you to [12:39] succeed in getting a deal with Iran. And he also said he looks forward to hosting you in Greece [12:44] later this year. Do you have any response? [12:45] Mr. No, it's really nice. I mean, Greece has been very supportive, actually. [12:50] Greece has been terrific. He's a terrific guy, because he understands the importance of it. [12:54] You know, oil goes up a little bit. I hate it. You know, I was the one that had it down to $60 a [13:00] barrel. And I looked at guys like Howard Lutnick — Howard, you remember it well — I said, [13:05] well, we just hit an all-time high in the history of the market. Think of this. When we hit 50,000, [13:12] I was told — everybody was told — when I won the election, November 5th, they said, well, during the [13:18] four-year period, it'll be impossible for the Dow to ever reach 50,000. It'll be impossible for the [13:24] S&P to ever hit 7,000. Impossible. And you remember that, Howard, right? It was going to hit maybe six, [13:30] seven years, eight years. But I did it in my first year — hit 50,000. Now it's just about at 50,000. [13:37] And S&P is higher than it was when we started. And S&P hit over 7,000. And that was before the year ended up, [13:44] one year. So I can only tell you this. It'll end. I don't think it'll be very long, by the way. [13:51] They're — they're delaying it because they — we don't know who to deal with. They are in — you know, [13:56] they know who the leader is in this country. We don't know who the leader is in Iran. [14:02] Because remember regime change. Khomeini is gone. He's gone to greener pastures. He's gone, [14:08] and all of his team is gone. Then a second group came in. They're all gone. And now you have the third [14:14] group. And they're a little concerned about being gone, too. [14:17] Sir, would you use a nuclear weapon against Iran? You posted on Truth Social a few weeks ago. [14:20] No. We don't need it. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked? [14:25] Do you — why would I — why would I use a nuclear weapon when we've totally, [14:29] in a very conventional way, decimated them without it? No, I wouldn't use it. A nuclear weapon [14:35] should never be allowed to be used by anybody. [14:37] Sir, have you planned to Iran who's given a timeline of when they could give you a proposal? [14:41] All very much looking forward to it. Prince Harry today has said that [14:44] he would like to see you do more to end the war in Ukraine. [14:47] Do you think it's appropriate for a royal to make those comments ahead of the visit on Monday? [14:51] Prince Harry? Yes, sir. [14:52] How's he doing? How's his wife? Please give him my regards, okay? [14:57] No, I don't know. I think — I know one thing. Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK. That's for sure. [15:05] I think I'm speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry. But I appreciate his advice very much. [15:11] Would you like to invite him to the dinner and to the state visit? [15:14] I look forward to the dinner. We're having King Charles come. He's a friend of mine. [15:18] We're really looking forward to it. We've spoken. And we're going to have a great time. I tell you, [15:22] we — if I had that ballroom built, it would be full. I wish we had more seats. You know, [15:27] they've wanted a new ballroom for 150 years. Now they're getting the best in the world. We're going to [15:31] have the best in the world. But, you know, we have a little — a room that's not big enough to handle [15:36] what would be a big crowd. But we're going to have very great people that love the UK. I love the UK. [15:43] I think they made a big mistake on energy. You should open up the North Sea in Aberdeen. [15:50] You should open it up. And the other thing is they've made a big mistake on immigration. [15:54] What do you hope to learn from Janine Pirro's investigation into the Federal Reserve's [16:07] reservation that you did not learn when you visited the site yourself last year? [16:11] Well, look, you know, the Federal Reserve Building is a small building. They're going to be in there by [16:17] the time it opens, in my opinion, for $4 billion. I built a hotel down the road for $201 million that [16:25] I believe is bigger than the Federal Reserve Building. $201 million. The ballroom — I'm going [16:30] to have the ballroom from $300 to $400 million, depending on finishes, like marbles to quality [16:36] and, you know, quality finishes. We'll go top of the line. But that's a much bigger project. [16:44] When you look at the fact that they've taken this beautiful building and destroyed it, [16:49] they've taken down the beautiful ceilings with eagles, they've taken down the walls that are a foot [16:53] and a half thick, masonry. You couldn't hear from office to office. They ripped it all down. [17:00] They did — they ripped down — because Kevin Warsh, who's terrific, said to you, [17:04] the saddest thing is they ripped down the nicest building in Washington for boardrooms and all. [17:08] Did you know about that building? They ripped it down. The boardroom building. It was beautiful. [17:13] And they ripped it down. And probably because it cost so much to fix it. So I would have done that job [17:19] for $25 million, had money left over. It's going to cost more than — in my opinion — it's not going to [17:25] open for a long time. You know, Kevin may not be able to have an office. I'm going to have to get him [17:29] an office. Can you give him an office? Yes. Yes, space. [17:31] Bobby, do you have some space over there, please? Yeah, we have a lot of space. [17:34] But — it's more than you think. But we're going to have Kevin sitting right next to you, Bobby. [17:41] But it may not open for a long time. I looked at it the other day. It's a see-through. See-through, [17:45] you know? That means the wall has already been up yet. This is after years and years of construction. [17:51] And somehow, you have to find out what went wrong. That a small building — I could have done it for [17:57] $25 million and had money left over. It would have been beautiful — that a small building can cost [18:03] $4 billion. It may never open. It may never open. And we have to get to that. On top of that, [18:10] he's been terrible on interest rates because he should have lowered interest rates. That's why I call him [18:14] Jerome Too Late — Too Late is his nickname. Jerome Too Late, pal. He likes me a lot. Thank you very much.