President Trump holds news conference amid "unhinged" Iran social post

[12:57] thank you very much it's a great honor to be with you and happy easter we had a great easter this [13:18] is one of our better easters i think in a lot of different ways i can say militarily [13:24] it's been one of the best so good afternoon we have quite a bit to discuss we'll go into a pretty [13:31] good detail and we have the people that are most involved we'll give you exactitude and we're here [13:40] today to celebrate the success of one of the largest most complex most harrowing combat [13:46] searches i guess you would call it a search and rescue mission ever attempted by the military [13:53] generally when planes are knocked down in war especially when you're fighting a [13:58] strong group an evil group you can't really do this because you send in 200 men to pick up one [14:08] and it's something that's usually not attempted as much as you want to attempt [14:13] and bad things happen to that one or two [14:15] and in this case we did too and might not have been attempted before but we did and we got we [14:23] had great talent we got a little luck too i would say and uh we were helped by a lot of people a lot [14:30] of great people and it was an honor to be involved with it it's very historic this is a rescue that's [14:39] very historic it'll go down in the books late thursday night an american f-15 fighter jet [14:45] went down deep inside enemy territory in iran while [14:50] participating in operation epic fury where we're doing unbelievably well uh well at a level that [14:56] nobody's ever seen before the entire country could be taken out in one night and that night [15:04] might be tomorrow night both members of the crew ejected from the aircraft and landed alive [15:11] on iranian soil i immediately was asked to make a decision i ordered the u.s armed forces to do [15:20] whatever was necessary to bring our brave warriors back home a risky decision [15:26] because we could have ended up with a hundred dead as opposed to one or two it's a hard decision to [15:32] make but in the united states military we leave no american behind we don't do it within hours [15:40] our armed forces deployed 21 military aircraft into hostile airspace many flying at very low [15:46] altitude being shot by bullets you bring rifles into play when you're going that low but there are [15:54] also certain advantages and in broad daylight over iran for seven hours [16:00] at times facing very very heavy enemy fire we have a helicopter that's got a lot of bullets in it [16:07] it's amazing we just realized how good those those weapons are those our machines are nobody has [16:15] nobody has the equipment that we have and nobody has the military that we have not even close [16:20] the most powerful military anywhere in the world by far the flight crews and warfighters [16:26] aboard those aircraft took extraordinary risks to rescue their fellow service members [16:32] this first wave of search and rescue forces successfully located the pilot of the f-15 [16:39] and he was extracted from enemy territory by an hh-60 jolly green 2 helicopter [16:46] fabulous machine as our warriors faced gunfire at very close range it's amazing that when you [16:56] look at the machinery what happened that nobody was even injured meanwhile the second crew member [17:02] a weapons system officer highly respected colonel [17:06] had landed a significant distance away from the pilot when you're going at those speeds [17:11] even if you go out two or three seconds later it's miles it's miles and miles away [17:17] because you're going fast he was injured quite badly and stranded in an area [17:23] teeming with terrorists from the islamic revolutionary guard corps rough group [17:28] as well as besieged military militia and local authorities many uh on top of everything else they [17:38] were just trying to control the communities actually with inside of iran the people of iran [17:44] they were given a tremendous incentive to find this pilot despite the peril the officer followed [17:51] his training and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a [17:57] higher altitude something they were trained to do in order to evade capture they want to always go [18:06] as far away from the site of the [18:09] and you know like there's a lot of water in the desert so it's almost like there's some kind of [18:09] those do not know and so it's usually hard to be a commoner when you're talking about the nature of the [18:10] the harbor and the water here and what this is there's a lot of kind of a history behind it but it's pretty [18:10] shoot down. You want to go as far away because they all head right to that site. You want to be [18:14] as far away as you can. And he was injured and he was an amazing, amazing thing. He scaled cliff [18:23] faces, bleeding rather profusely, treated his own wounds and contacted American forces to [18:31] transmit his location. They have a very sophisticated beeper type apparatus that is [18:40] on them at all times. And when they go out on these missions, they make sure they have [18:45] lots of battery space and they're in good shape. And this one worked really well. Amazingly saved [18:52] his life. We immediately mobilized a massive operation to retrieve him from the mountain [18:59] holdout. And he kept going higher and higher. The mountain kept getting rougher and rougher and [19:05] really very, very hard to find. The second rescue mission involved 155 aircraft, [19:12] including four. [19:13] bombers 64 fighters 48 refueling tankers 13 rescue aircraft and more we were bringing them [19:21] all over and a lot of it was subterfuge we wanted to have them think he was in a different location [19:28] because they had a vast military force out there thousands thousands of people were looking so we [19:36] wanted them to look in different areas so we were scattered all over like we were right on top of [19:41] them we had seven different locations where they thought and they were very confused they said well [19:47] wait a minute they've got groups here they've got groups there it's an amazing thing i was listening [19:53] to these great people these great generals general raisin cane was amazing and pete hexeth was [20:01] amazing but i listened to the whole thing it was pretty amazing so they had all these different [20:06] sites where everybody thought he was located we think we have them over there because they have [20:11] nine planes circling a little area [20:14] 25 miles down the coast so in a breathtaking show of skill and precision lethality and force [20:23] america's military descended on the area the real area engaged the enemy rescued the stranded [20:31] officer destroyed all threats and exited iranian territory while taking no casualties of any kind [20:39] the heroic f-15 weapon system officer had evaded capture on the ground in iran for [20:48] you [20:49] almost 48 hours that's a long time when you're in tough shape and when you're bleeding it's a long [20:54] time when uh when we left as you probably know we had two large planes old pretty old planes [21:03] he carried a lot we needed a lot more equipment going in than coming out obviously because going [21:08] in we needed to be able to scale mountains and we had a lot of equipment but the sand was it was [21:16] sandy wet sand so we thought there may be a problem taking [21:21] off because of the weight of the plane and then we also had all the men jumping back onto the [21:26] planes and they got pretty well bogged down and we had a contingency plan which was unbelievable [21:33] where lighter faster aircraft came in and they took them out we blew up the old planes we blew [21:40] them up to smithereens because we had equipment on the planes that frankly we'd like to take but [21:45] I don't think it was worthwhile spending another four hours there taking it off so we didn't want [21:50] anybody to have we have the best [21:52] best equipment anywhere in the world we didn't want anybody examining our uh anti-aircraft and [21:58] other equipment so these were large planes that were old and pretty old and we blew them up and [22:06] we had faster lighter planes come in and they were able to land on the sand we needed the bigger [22:12] planes because we had so much equipment that we knew we took three helicopters over there which [22:16] were very strongly used and couldn't have lived without them they did and they performed unbelievably [22:23] you see it you wouldn't believe it they came off the plane and these guys had them the the uh the [22:30] rotors were off they rebuilt these helicopters in less than 10 minutes and that was one of the more [22:37] amazing things these are helicopters uh small unbelievably powerful but small very small so [22:47] it can get into certain areas and they got them off the plane and they rebuilt all three of them [22:56] in less than 10 minutes it's pretty amazing what the the genius of these people who would think [23:02] that you'd think it would take five days to build them and in some companies who would take five [23:06] days and they wouldn't do it well but they served us well they as commander chief I never forget the [23:13] extraordinary risk taken by the Warriors that we send into battle and the genius I mean think of it [23:19] having a contingency of three planes waiting because we think the sand is so bad that probably [23:27] really got bogged sand was this was not much of a runway this was a farm not a runway it's a farm but [23:35] it did the trick but to have a contingency as opposed to having to wait two days can you [23:41] imagine right in the middle this was central this was right you would call it central casting if you [23:47] were doing a movie for location and the probably the toughest area of iran where we'd be sitting [23:54] there so these planes came in those pilots came in so fast and so quick and got out of there [23:59] everybody got aboard and just got 15 minute intervals one load out one load out one load [24:07] out the three it happened and we were watching and we said that's amazing it's in many ways i was [24:14] i was almost more impressed by the contingency that we had than the fact that you know if we [24:21] would have had a runway or decent soil but it was an amazing thing but we thank god for every single [24:27] one of them and the talent the genius is not [24:31] even talent it's genius it's the whole ball game every one of them if you look at what we did with [24:37] maduro we went into a military compound a massive with thousands and thousands of soldiers within a [24:44] matter of minutes and he lived behind iron doors there were steel doors broke them down so quickly [24:51] and within almost minutes he was in the back of these planes it was a similar group [24:56] credible we have incredibly talented people and if the time comes we move heaven and earth to [25:03] bring them home safely we're going to bring our people home safely i want to thank every member [25:08] of the u.s armed forces involved in these historic operations they really were historic it's just not [25:13] something that's done and you'd understand it not that they don't want to do it but when you're [25:19] going into areas when you look at these helicopters when you look at the amount of bullets and [25:23] everything else that they took when you go into these areas you don't come out like we came out [25:29] god was watching us tell you well it was the easter we were in an easter [25:36] tori i guess but god was watching us amazing because when you look at the machinery they took [25:42] they took damage tells you first thing i said is these are unbelievable machines how they flew back [25:47] and not even much of a problem but these two extraordinary rescues because it was two and [25:54] as you probably know we didn't talk about the first one for an hour then somebody leaked something [26:01] which will hopefully find that leaker we're looking very hard to find that leaker [26:05] and talked about there's somebody missing [26:09] they basically said that we have one and there's somebody missing well they didn't know there was [26:14] somebody missing until this leaker gave the information so whoever it was we think we'll [26:19] be able to find it out because we're going to go to the media company that released it and we're [26:26] going to say national security give it up or go to jail and we know who and you know who we're [26:33] talking about because some things you can't do because when they did that all of a sudden [26:39] the entire country of iran knew that there was [26:43] a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life [26:49] and it also made it much more difficult for the pilots and for the people going in to search for [26:56] him all of a sudden they know that there's somebody out there they see all these planes [27:01] coming in it became a much more difficult operation because a leaker leaked that we [27:08] have one we've rescued one but there's another one out there that we're trying to get so actually the [27:17] country iran put out a major notice you all saw it offering a very big award for anybody that [27:25] captures the pilot so in addition to a hostile very talented very good very evil military we had [27:35] millions of people trying to get an award so when you add that to it but we have to find that leaker [27:41] because that's a sick person probably didn't realize the extent of how bad it was i can't [27:47] imagine that the person did but we're going to find out it's going to be a big deal in that way [27:50] national security and the person that did the story will go to jail if he [27:56] doesn't say and that doesn't last long and I think everybody would understand [28:00] that they put this mission at great risk they put that man at great risk and they [28:04] put the hundreds of people that went in looking for him because everyone now [28:08] knows that we're going in over the past 37 days America's Armed Forces have [28:15] carried out more than 10,000 combat flights over Iran unheard of striking [28:21] more than 13,000 targets the f-15 we lost last week was the first manned [28:27] aircraft downed by the enemy in this entire operation with thousands and [28:32] thousands of flights he got lucky it was a lucky hit you know eventually you get [28:36] lucky but we got lucky too because we got both of them back but it's a record [28:42] that is unparalleled in the history of military air operations nobody's ever [28:47] seen anything like it it's such an honor to be involved with it we were up [28:54] late at night and then we were waiting for those contingent planes to come in [29:00] and we said come on let's go get in because they're waiting out on this uh [29:05] farm without a runway with wet crummy soil sand mostly sand wet sand and it [29:15] eats planes alive and we're waiting and we're saying I hope that one can land [29:19] and take off and they came in like magic boom boom boom one after another it was [29:25] like genius I'm so impressed by that because we were a little concerned [29:30] and we said boy if they don't get in and get up fast we're sitting in them and [29:35] that's called Iran Prime right General that's that's where the whole bed is and [29:41] here we are sitting there waiting for a plane but they came in so fast and so [29:46] hard and these guys knew exactly what let's go come on get in let's go they [29:52] came one right after another not at the same time they don't want to come at the [29:56] same time they had to come right after each other they didn't have any room [30:00] they had a tiny little patch of very wet Earth and sand so I just I'm so proud [30:08] of the people that I have standing up here with me and many others that worked [30:12] I mean so many Steve whitkoff's over here he's doing fantastically Jared [30:17] Kushner but the people that are here the job they did is amazing and I think I'm [30:23] going to introduce the head of the CIA and he is a man who he's central casting [30:30] okay if we cast a movie he's going to play the head of the CIA he's one of the [30:34] best in the world John Ratcliffe he he did a phenomenal job that night he did [30:41] something that I don't know if you want to talk about it if you want you can I'm [30:44] not sure he's supposed to I'm not going to talk about it but he really the CIA [30:48] was very responsible for finding this little speck it's like they used an [30:52] expression on one of the shows the general was talking about it's like [30:56] finding a needle in a haystack finding this pilot and the CIA was unbelievable [31:01] and you may if you can you'll talk it might be classified in which case I'd [31:06] love he talks about it and I don't want to put him in jail he doesn't deserve [31:10] that so John do you want to say a few words thank you thank you mr. president [31:16] it's a privilege to be here with you today to share what we can about this [31:21] exceptional mission and to recognize the ingenuity and bravery of those who [31:26] executed it as well as the leadership and resolve of the president who ordered [31:32] it one thing that has been clear to me in this role is that the flawless [31:37] military operations that the Department of War is known for [31:40] are hostage to flawless intelligence we saw that in the skies over Iran in [31:48] operation midnight hammer last summer we witnessed it in Venezuela during [31:52] operation absolute resolve we've seen it against the cartels in the Western [31:57] Hemisphere and we're seeing it every day in operation epic fury including this [32:02] mission to rescue an aviator buried deep behind enemy lines because it is the [32:10] unique tradition of the US Armed Forces that we leave no man or woman [32:14] behind this was a no-fail mission that was the spirit in which the president [32:20] put us to work and we were determined not to let him down or our airmen down [32:26] as an agency the CIA possesses unique capabilities that only the president can [32:33] deploy some of these capabilities fall under covert action authorities and [32:38] because covert means exactly that I'm not going to be able to tell you [32:44] everything that you want to know at the president's direction we deployed both [32:50] human assets [32:52] and exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service in the world possesses to a daunting [32:58] challenge comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert. [33:06] This was also a race against the clock as it was critical that we locate the downed [33:10] aviator as quickly as possible while at the same time keeping our enemies misdirected. [33:19] For that reason, in addition to the human and technical assets deployed by the President [33:25] to find our airmen, CIA executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were [33:32] desperately hunting for our airmen. [33:35] On Saturday morning, we achieved our primary objective by finding and providing confirmation [33:42] that one of America's best and bravest was alive and concealed in a mountain crevice [33:49] still invisible to the enemy but not to the CIA. [33:54] That confirmation was relayed by Secretary Hegseth to the President and the operation [33:59] quickly moved to a halt. [34:00] Thank you. [34:00] To the execution phase, following the successful exfiltration on Saturday night, our intelligence [34:08] reflects that the Iranians were embarrassed and ultimately humiliated by the success of [34:13] this audacious rescue mission. [34:17] When the President asked me to lead the CIA, he made it clear, get back to basics, no politics, [34:24] no agendas, tackle the hardest problems and execute the toughest missions. [34:30] This President is about results and now that's what his CIA is about too. [34:36] The professionals at the agency and at the Department of War deserve immense credit for [34:43] their flawless execution during this daring mission. [34:46] Their skill, creativity and courage are unmatched on the battlefield wherever they step but [34:54] none of that matters and all of that is wasted without a President with the political courage [35:01] to put them into action. [35:04] Mr. President, I've had the privilege of seeing you act with political courage in the best [35:10] interest of the United States up close on a daily basis. [35:12] I'm grateful that this successful mission has given the American people a window into [35:18] that as well. [35:20] The Secretary and Chairman will tell you that our service members' confidence is boosted [35:25] by a Commander-in-Chief who has their back the same way they have yours. [35:31] And I know that the confidence of CIA's officers is boosted by the knowledge that their work [35:37] is informing a President who's not afraid to make the hardest decisions when the stakes [35:43] are highest. [35:45] And to the American people? [35:46] Your confidence should be boosted by knowing that the security of the nation is in the [35:53] hands of a President who's willing to take on problems that have confounded both sides [35:59] of the political aisle for nearly half a century. [36:03] It is an honor to serve under a leader who just proved that you can believe him when [36:08] he says, no matter what, we will leave no one behind. [36:14] We will come for you. [36:16] Thank you. [36:26] Well, John, thank you for the collaboration of the CIA as well, incredible and ongoing [36:30] partnership. [36:31] Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Americans, and especially the brave warriors in our armed [36:35] forces, over this Easter weekend, the United States military has once again proved why [36:41] we possess the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. [36:46] In two extraordinary combat search and rescue operations deep inside enemy territory in [36:52] Iran, our warriors executed missions of breathtaking skill, courage, and precision. [37:00] When our warriors are unleashed, as this President has allowed them to be. [37:04] They are unstoppable. [37:08] When American airmen were down behind enemy lines, our forces and our President did not [37:12] hesitate. [37:14] Special operators supported by elite air crews and intelligence professionals moved swiftly [37:18] and decisively into treacherous mountain terrain under the constant threat of Iranian forces [37:24] closing in. [37:25] Ultimately, it was an impotent Iranian threat. [37:30] And today, as the CIA director mentioned, Iran's military, and we know this, is embarrassed [37:35] and humiliated. [37:36] And we know this. [37:37] And they should be. [37:38] Now, these are not routine operations. [37:40] They were high-risk, high-stakes missions conducted in the heart of enemy territory. [37:45] This was not just barely into Iran. [37:47] This was deep into Iran, involving coordinated strikes to suppress threats, deception tactics [37:53] to protect our teams, and full synchronization across air, ground, and special operations. [37:59] The Iranians are still asking themselves right now, how did the Americans do this? [38:06] One downed airman evaded capture for more than a day. [38:08] He was in the air, scaling rugged ridges while hunted by the enemy. [38:13] When he was finally able to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple [38:21] and it was powerful. [38:22] He sent a message, God is good. [38:27] In that moment of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shone through. [38:32] You see, shot down on a Friday, good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday, [38:42] and rescued on Sunday. [38:44] Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. [38:51] A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. [38:58] God is good. [39:01] Despite incoming fire and unforgiving conditions, our troops brought every American home. [39:06] No American lives were lost, we leave no man behind, and that is not luck. [39:13] It's the result of unmatched training, superior technology, an unbreakable warrior ethos, [39:18] and sheer American spirit. [39:19] Our special operators, pilots, and support crews performed with near perfection under [39:27] fire. [39:28] And they were lethal. [39:31] Just ask any Iranian soldier who dared attempt to get anywhere near that pilot before or [39:37] during that mission. [39:39] Death from above. [39:42] Our troops turned a potential tragedy into a resounding demonstration of American resolve [39:46] and capability. [39:48] That's what excellence in uniform looks like. [39:52] But make no mistake about it. [39:54] None of this would have been possible without the courageous leadership and ironclad determination [40:00] of President Donald J. Trump. [40:04] From the moment our airmen went down, President Trump made it clear we will leave no one behind. [40:10] The first mission, the first of two, was an audacious daylight thunder run right up the [40:17] middle. [40:18] It was authorized in less than two hours from that pilot going down when we knew where he [40:23] was. [40:26] It was authorized in the middle of the night. [40:28] Because anybody that's worked for this man knows he's up in the middle of the night. [40:32] Authorized immediately, without hesitation, audaciously. [40:35] The second mission, as soon as we knew where that pilot was, and John was certainly helpful [40:39] in that, also executed immediately. [40:44] You know, I looked up at my screen when the final mission was complete inside our SCIF, [40:47] our secure facility. [40:48] And we have a running VTC, a running coordination cell. [40:53] And the top of it read 45 minutes and 45 hours and 56 minutes. [40:59] For 45 hours and 56 minutes, we held that call open for coordination from the moment [41:06] our pilots went down, our mission was unblinking. [41:10] The call never dropped. [41:11] The meeting never stopped. [41:13] The planning never ceased. [41:16] The President demanded rapid, decisive action. [41:19] He backed our military with the full weight of his resolve, refusing to let enemy propaganda [41:23] or tactical setbacks deter us. [41:26] His leadership ensured that every lethal and nonlethal resource was brought to bear that [41:31] our forces had the authorities and the support they needed to succeed. [41:36] When the President says he has the backs of our warfighters, he means it. [41:41] And it means a great deal. [41:43] And it's a big difference on the battlefield. [41:46] President Trump understands that peace through strength is not a slogan. [41:50] It is a doctrine that saves American lives. [41:54] His unwavering commitment to rebuilding our military and restoring the warrior spirit [41:58] has paid dividends in missions just like this one. [42:03] Under his command. [42:04] He rejects power with confidence and brings our people home with victory. [42:09] And that continues today, by the way. [42:12] Per the President's direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day [42:15] one of this operation. [42:17] Tomorrow, even more than today. [42:20] And then Iran has a choice. [42:23] Choose wisely. [42:24] Because this President does not play around. [42:28] You can ask Soleimani. [42:30] You can ask Maduro. [42:32] You can ask Khomeini. [42:35] To those heroes who planned and executed these rescues, your nation stands in awe. [42:39] I stand in awe. [42:40] The Chairman stands in awe. [42:41] We all stand in awe of your professionalism and bravery. [42:45] We serve for you. [42:47] You embody the very best of America. [42:49] To the rescued airmen and their families, welcome home. [42:53] Your courage and endurance, the quiet declaration of faith amid the storm inspires us all. [43:00] God is good every day. [43:04] And to our adversaries watching from Tehran, let this be a clear message. [43:09] The United States military will go anywhere at any time. [43:14] To protect our own and complete the mission. [43:17] We execute with precision. [43:19] We control the sky. [43:21] We flew for seven hours in daylight over Iran to get the first pilot. [43:28] And we flew seven hours in the middle of the night to get the second. [43:32] And Iran did nothing about it. [43:37] We fight with honor. [43:38] And under President Trump's leadership, we win. [43:40] So God bless our troops. [43:42] God bless President Trump. [43:44] And God bless the United States of America. [43:45] Thank you. [43:50] Thank you, everyone. [43:51] Thank you, Mr. President. [43:52] Thank you, Mr. Secretary. [43:53] A note before I start. [43:55] I know many of you want specific details in these briefings. [44:00] We will share what we can, but I will retain what I must in the event that we have to go [44:05] do this again sometime. [44:07] And I cannot stress the importance, as the President said, around operational security. [44:13] The Secretary and I will do a more detailed briefing tomorrow morning, and we look forward [44:17] to sharing the details that we can. [44:20] On Thursday, 2 April, at 10.10 p.m. Eastern Time, 4.40 in the morning, local Iran time, [44:27] the Joint Personnel Recovery Center, which handles the Central Command Area of Responsibility, [44:32] declared an isolated personnel recovery event for a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle, call [44:38] sign DUDE 4-4, which was down in hostile Iranian territory. [44:43] The pilot and weapons system officer had both safely ejected and were isolated behind enemy [44:48] lines. [44:50] After confirmation of active rescue beacons and on the direction of the Secretary and [44:54] by order of the President, a rescue operation was launched, with the stated purpose of bringing [45:00] both Americans home safely. [45:03] As the Secretary said several hours later on the morning, after positively locating [45:08] the front-seater, call sign DUDE 4-4-ALPHA, and aware of an aggressive, ongoing search [45:14] by the enemy, a U.S. Central Command plan was approved by the Secretary and the President. [45:20] Shortly thereafter, a U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force, comprised of [45:27] A-10 Warthogs in their Sandy role , HC-130 Combat King IIs, HH-60 Jolly Green [45:37] II Helicopters, and Air Force Special Warfare Airmen, a package comprised of combat rescue [45:43] officers and pararescue operators, audaciously penetrated enemy territory in broad daily [45:51] daylight, to find, fix, and recover DUDE 4-4-ALPHA from behind enemy lines. [45:58] This was an incredibly dangerous mission, an incredibly dangerous undertaking, but a [46:06] filled promise made to every American warfighter, that you will not be left behind. [46:13] We will always come find you, and we will always bring you home. [46:18] Over the next hours, the Search and Rescue Task Force crossed the beach. [46:20] The U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force crossed the beach. [46:21] The U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force crossed the beach. [46:22] The U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force crossed the beach. [46:22] The U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force crossed the beach. [46:23] Entered into Iranian airspace, protected by a fighter strike package, and moved into [46:28] the objective area, all under fire. [46:32] En route, as some of you have seen on social media, the helicopters took gas off the C-130s [46:38] and pressed onward and forward, up into the objective area. [46:41] While this was ongoing, and out in front of them, the Sandy flight of A-10s and other [46:47] remotely piloted aircraft and drones, and other tactical aircrafts, were violently [46:52] violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight [46:56] to keep them away from the front-seater and allow the pickup force to get into the objective area. [47:03] During this engagement, one of the Sandy aircraft, [47:07] the one primarily responsible for communicating with the downed pilot, was hit by enemy fire. [47:14] This pilot continued to fight, continued the mission, [47:18] and then upon exit flew his aircraft into another country [47:22] and determined that the airplane was not landable. [47:25] This was one of our A-10 Sandy aircraft. [47:27] The pilot then made the decision to eject over friendly territory [47:32] and was quickly and safely recovered and is doing fine. [47:37] After picking up Dude 4-4 Alpha, the HH-60 Jolly Greenfight [47:43] was engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small arms weapon. [47:49] And one of the aircraft, the trailing aircraft, [47:52] took several hits. [47:53] The crew sustained minor injury and they are going to be fine. [47:57] A note for those of you that do not know what a Sandy does. [48:02] Named after the flight call sign that did this very mission in Vietnam [48:07] flying A-1 Sky Raiders and A-7 Corsairs. [48:11] A Sandy has one mission. [48:14] Get to the survivor, bring the rescue force forward, [48:18] and put themselves between that survivor on the ground and the enemy. [48:24] They are committed to this. [48:26] This is what they live for and this is what they've trained for over many, many years. [48:33] The A-10 force and the rescue force did fantastic, [48:37] did a fantastic job rescuing Dude 4-4 Alpha. [48:41] He was recovered Friday afternoon. [48:44] As I said, and the nation needs to know this, [48:47] this was an incredibly brave and courageous mission [48:51] and a testament to the courage, skill, and tenacity of the A-10. [48:54] and a testament to the courage, skill, and tenacity of the A-10. [48:55] and a testament to the courage, skill, and tenacity of the A-10. [48:56] and a testament to the courage, skill, and tenacity of the A-10. [48:57] of the joint force and our leaders. [48:59] And especially a daylight option, [49:02] having the guts to try means so much to so many. [49:06] Meanwhile, the backseater, as the President and the Secretary have said, [49:11] had continued to work and survive. [49:14] Through the hours of daylight, Dude 4-4 Bravo, the backseater, evaded. [49:20] Using every means available, [49:22] the efforts of the United States military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and others, [49:27] were attempting to find and locate with precision Dude 4-4 Bravo, the backseater. [49:34] A note on the backseater and the frontseater. [49:38] The single most important contributor to a successful rescue operation [49:45] is the spirit of attack inside the heart of that downed aviator. [49:49] Their will to survive, their will to evade, their will to recover is everything. [49:56] In this case, the backseater's [49:58] absolute commitment to surviving [50:00] made much of our efforts possible. [50:03] On Saturday, 4 April, after establishing positive communications with the [50:08] backseater, we learned, as the President said, [50:11] that he was injured and actively evading enemy forces. [50:15] And thanks to our interagency partners, we were able to get eyes on his location [50:21] and positively ID him. [50:23] Throughout this entire time, the enemy force continued to search for 4-4 [50:27] Bravo, [50:28] and the joint force continued to strike them over and over and over again. [50:34] Fighting off marginal weather in Iran and the enemy's search, for a second time on [50:39] Saturday, at the recommendation of the CENTCOM commander and at the approval of the Secretary [50:44] and the President, we launched a rescue task force to recover Dude 4-4 Bravo. [50:50] Again, this came to the President and the Secretary for approval, this time with a much [50:55] larger force package, based on the time that the enemy had to [50:59] prepare to find 4-4 Bravo. [51:02] Again, this force was protected by A-10 Warthogs using the Sandy Call sign. [51:08] And this force had one single mission, do everything they can to bring an American home. [51:15] This meant having a plan, being prepared to execute that plan, and more importantly, being [51:22] prepared for multiple, simultaneous contingencies. [51:27] And because of this force's professionalism, commitment, and commitment, we were able to [51:29] recover Dude 4-4 Bravo. [51:30] The force fought off two enemies at the same time. [51:35] The enemy searching for 4-4 Bravo and contingencies, which anyone who has done these types of missions [51:42] knows we run into every single time. [51:47] The force fought off both of those enemies incredibly well. [51:51] During the period of darkness on Saturday, and as the Secretary said, into Easter Sunday [51:56] and into the daylight, the force fought its way in. [52:00] And rescued Dude 4-4 Bravo. [52:04] They were protected overhead by an air armada including tactical drones, strike aircraft, [52:11] and others. [52:12] The force fought through multiple, simultaneous contingencies, something no other nation, [52:19] no other military can do. [52:22] And safely returned Dude 4-4 Bravo, the back seater, home. [52:27] And all other Americans home as well. [52:29] And I really appreciate this very much. [52:31] It was incredibly, incredibly exciting. [52:32] And I'm excited for these events. [52:33] Eastern Time, Easter Sunday, more than 50 hours after the start of this operation, [52:39] the Joint Personnel Recovery Center declared Dude 4-4 Bravo, both the front and back seater, [52:48] returned to friendly territory. The courage demonstrated by both the pilot and the weapons [52:54] system officer while isolated and them invading the enemy cannot be overstated. Their grit and [53:01] warfighting tenacity is a direct result of the absolute trust they have in our rescue forces, [53:07] their training, and their will to survive and return. They always knew that we would be ordered [53:14] to go get them, and they always knew that we would be coming to get them. These two operations [53:21] reflect our nation's most sacred obligation to our military service members. We leave no one [53:27] behind. Bless you. It also perfectly captures the first [53:32] truth of our special operations forces, that people are more important than hardware. That [53:39] is the standard we live by, and the rescue forces that execute these missions operate [53:45] under a clear motto, these things we do that others may live. Their actions were a direct [53:54] embodiment of that commitment to others, and I could not be more proud of each and every one of [54:02] them today. [54:03] As the Secretary said to our enemies, this operation serves as a clear reminder of the capability and [54:11] will of America's joint force. The United States of America will recover our warfighters anywhere in [54:17] the world, under any conditions, when we want to. We will always bring overwhelming skill and [54:23] firepower. To every member of the joint force, our interagency partners, the leadership at CENTCOM, [54:30] and our leaders at the department and above, thank you. [54:34] I'm proud of each and every one of you, and thankful to our deployed forces and their families. [54:40] Lastly, and most importantly, to Dude 4-4, welcome home. Job well done. Thank you. [54:48] Pretty amazing. Pretty amazing. These 2 gentlemen have been, from day 1, they've been perfecto. [55:02] I got to know General Cane in my first term because he was able to take out ISIS in 4 weeks instead of the four-year projection. [55:06] I got to know General Cane in my first term because he was able to take out ISIS in four weeks instead of the four-year projection. [55:07] I got to know General Cane in my first term because he was able to take out ISIS in 4 weeks instead of the four-year projection. [55:11] that was given to me by other much lesser generals. [55:15] I said, you know, if I ever do this again, [55:17] that's going to be the head of my Joint Chiefs of Staff. [55:20] And we worked it that way, didn't we? [55:22] It's amazing. He took out ISIS. [55:24] We defeated ISIS in four weeks. [55:27] I was told it would take four years. [55:28] I flew to Iraq to find out, [55:31] with the greatest equipment in the world, [55:33] why would it take four years? [55:36] And he told me, sir, it won't. [55:39] It'll take four weeks, and you'll have time left over. [55:41] And that's exactly what happened. [55:43] So he's great, and Pete, all I can say [55:46] is that he was treated very unfairly. [55:50] And now those same people that treated him unfairly, [55:52] that fought against him, they call me up and say, [55:54] what a great choice he was. [55:57] They say, well, what happened during his nomination? [55:59] What happened to you? [56:01] I'm telling you, people that were not forum senators, [56:04] friends of mine, sir, I don't think you're doing the right thing, [56:08] now they're calling me up, what a choice. [56:10] These two guys are fantastic. [56:12] And John Ratcliffe was incredible. [56:13] It was actually their genius that called us from, [56:19] he was 40 miles away, and he said, you know, [56:22] we're seeing something moving up in a mountain. [56:25] This is at night. [56:27] And they kept the camera on him for 45 minutes. [56:30] He wasn't moving, and they said, you know, probably wrong, [56:33] but we're seeing something moving. [56:35] This is a vast mountain, vast, thick, with bushes, trees. [56:42] He said, we see something moving, 40 miles away. [56:44] He was the head of a human being. [56:48] I'm telling you, it's moving. [56:51] And then all of a sudden, 45 minutes later, he moved a lot, [56:55] stood up, and they said, we have him. [56:58] And that was really the beginning of something incredible. [57:02] We had an idea where he was, but not specifically. [57:05] And it's a big mountain. [57:07] So I want to thank the CIA, too. [57:10] I don't think they get enough credit for the great job they've done. [57:14] Yes, please. [57:15] Thank you very much, Mr. President, for this great opportunity. [57:19] A country has a super army. [57:23] You make a difference, Mr. President. [57:26] Thank you for your greatest leadership. [57:28] Thank you. [57:29] I have two quick questions, Mr. President. [57:32] What was your reaction when you learned that Kurdistan region [57:36] had resumed exporting oil to the international market [57:41] with your support as United States of America? [57:44] Well, I expected that. [57:46] We've gotten along with the Kurds for a long time, so I expected that. [57:51] Another question. [57:52] What would... [57:53] What would... [57:54] What would be your reaction if the Iranian people rise up against their regime during [58:01] a case fire, Mr. President? [58:03] Well, they should do it. [58:04] But again, the consequences are great. [58:07] I mean, they were told, if you protest, you will be shot immediately. [58:11] You saw what happened to the young wrestler. [58:13] He was a great champion, by the way. [58:15] He was a great wrestler, one of the top in the world. [58:17] And he and his two friends were hung. [58:21] And all they did was say a little bit about liberty. [58:24] They wanted liberty. [58:25] And they were violently executed. [58:28] But the number is up to probably 45,000 people were killed. [58:33] So, you know, when somebody stays in a house, [58:35] when they know if they walk out of the house to protest, [58:37] they'll be immediately shot and killed. [58:40] And they issued that. [58:41] You know, that was publicly issued. [58:43] It's not a secret. [58:44] That's why so many people say, oh, well, why are you doing this way? [58:47] We can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. [58:51] You know, we got regime change. [58:53] We do. [58:53] We deal with a much different regime than before. [58:56] We're dealing with... [58:57] We're dealing with a lot of different people. [58:59] They're smarter. [59:01] I think they're sharper and far less radical. [59:05] We have regime change. [59:06] But we didn't do this for regime change. [59:09] We did it for the fact. [59:11] And my view is very simple. [59:13] I saw somebody said, oh, he doesn't have a plan. [59:15] I have the best plan of all. [59:16] But I'm not going to tell you what my plan is. [59:18] You know, they want me to say, here's my plan. [59:20] We're going to attack at 947 in the morning. [59:23] And then we're going to do this. [59:24] And then we're going to... [59:25] And if you don't do that, they say, I have a plan. [59:27] These people know what the plan is. [59:29] Everybody here knows what the plan is. [59:31] But it's very unfair to say... [59:34] Because I don't mind being insulted. [59:36] I've been insulted for many years by the fake news. [59:39] But you can't... [59:40] It's so bad for the people that are so... [59:44] You just saw two great... [59:46] And John Ratcliffe, three unbelievable people. [59:49] They have a plan. [59:50] Every single thing has been thought out by all of us. [59:53] But I can't reveal the plan to the media. [59:57] So, you know... [59:58] But we're doing it. [59:59] We're just thrilled by the success of this operation. [1:00:02] Yes, please. [1:00:03] Thank you, Mr. President. [1:00:04] You've said Iranians would be mad if you stopped these attacks. [1:00:07] But why would they want you to blow up their infrastructure, to cut off their power? [1:00:11] Wouldn't that be punishing Iranians for the actions of the regime? [1:00:14] They would be willing to... [1:00:16] And it's suffering. [1:00:17] They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom. [1:00:21] The Iranians have... [1:00:23] We've had numerous intercepts. [1:00:25] Please keep bombing. [1:00:27] Bombs that are dropping near their homes. [1:00:29] Please keep bombing. [1:00:31] Do it. [1:00:32] And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding. [1:00:35] And when we leave and we're not hitting those areas, they're saying, [1:00:39] Please come back, come back, come back. [1:00:41] These are the people. [1:00:43] I don't know what they do. [1:00:45] All I can tell you is they want freedom. [1:00:47] They have lived in a world that you know nothing about. [1:00:51] It's a violent, horrible world. [1:00:55] Where if you protest, you are shot. [1:00:57] Remember the great woman protest where they had 400,000, 500,000 women? [1:01:01] And they were all enthused and they were going to protest. [1:01:04] And everybody said, Oh, the regime is going to come to an end. [1:01:07] And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, five, six different areas. [1:01:16] A woman would go down right between the eyes. [1:01:18] They had snipers. [1:01:19] They had five snipers. [1:01:20] That's all it took. [1:01:21] And those four or 500,000 women said, Oh, my God, what's that? [1:01:26] Oh, look over there. [1:01:28] What's that? [1:01:29] A woman shot right between the eyes. [1:01:32] And after five or six. [1:01:34] After five or six of them go down, then you start hearing the purr through the vast number of people. [1:01:41] And then they said, Oh, my God, who would do that? [1:01:45] And they're incredible people. [1:01:48] But they've lived so horribly. [1:01:50] They've lived so horribly. [1:01:52] You know, Iran was a great country. [1:01:53] If you go back 25 years ago or so, the Persian people, they're incredible, smart, brilliant, actually. [1:02:02] And I know so many. [1:02:03] I know coming from New York. [1:02:05] Originally, I know so many people from Iran. [1:02:07] They're incredible people, incredible energy and and very, very brilliant people. [1:02:13] And but when you're standing in a group and protesting and you have a woman in the case of the woman, remember the Great Woman March? [1:02:19] Everybody was like, Oh, this is the end of the country. [1:02:23] And then snipers selectively picked. [1:02:26] Every single one was shot right between the eyes from a long distance. [1:02:30] They were on top of buildings. [1:02:32] Nobody even knew where they were, where they're coming from. [1:02:34] This wasn't like a machine gun, which is also very bad. [1:02:36] They've done that, too. [1:02:37] They did that recently. [1:02:39] This was snipers sitting on the top of buildings, aiming and hitting women. [1:02:46] And when they see people go down and all of a sudden there's a riot in the reverse direction and they never came out again. [1:02:53] And a lot of the news doesn't talk about that. [1:02:56] They talk about, oh, women's rights. [1:02:58] You want to see women's rights. [1:02:59] You're not going to see it there. [1:03:01] It's amazing when I see some of the stupid people like, you know, AOC. [1:03:05] Plus three, all that group. [1:03:07] They talk about, oh, freedom for Iran. [1:03:11] They don't tell you the real facts. [1:03:13] Women, men, gays. [1:03:16] How about gays for Iran? [1:03:18] They kill the gays. [1:03:20] They throw them off buildings. [1:03:22] So I wonder what what's going on. [1:03:24] I can only say this. [1:03:27] They want us to keep bombing, even if it jeopardize because their life is in much greater danger. [1:03:32] They want freedom for Iran. [1:03:34] But it's very hard for them to protest. [1:03:36] I actually tell them, I said, don't go out. [1:03:37] I fully understand. [1:03:38] Nobody in this room would go out. [1:03:40] I don't think there's any because, frankly, it's not a question of bravery. [1:03:43] We're all brave, right? [1:03:44] You're brave. [1:03:45] I'm brave. [1:03:46] We're all brave. [1:03:47] But we're also intelligent. [1:03:49] If you have people shooting at you, expert shots with the best rifles you can get and hitting you right between the eyes every single time. [1:03:59] And you're looking here and you're seeing and you're looking here. [1:04:02] You're out of there. [1:04:03] I don't care who. [1:04:06] Mark Barrett, Fox News. [1:04:08] I know that. [1:04:09] Go ahead. [1:04:10] America's watching. [1:04:11] No. [1:04:12] Good job. [1:04:13] Can we go back to the weekend? [1:04:14] First off, was everyone on board with the operation or were there people that were trying to talk you out of going through with the operation this weekend? [1:04:20] Not everybody was on board. [1:04:23] Somebody else within? [1:04:24] No. [1:04:25] There was military people, very professional, that preferred not doing it. [1:04:29] These two were totally on board, which was very important. [1:04:32] If they weren't, I would have had a little difficulty. [1:04:35] But, no, there were military people that said, you just don't do this. [1:04:39] Don't go into the heart of a very powerful military. [1:04:44] You know, this is, hey, you have countries and countries. [1:04:46] You have some countries where military is not their strong suit. [1:04:49] This whole thing is militarized like nobody's ever seen before. [1:04:53] Half the people are wearing uniforms. [1:04:56] And we had people within the military. [1:05:00] Usually it's not done. [1:05:02] That's one of the reasons. [1:05:03] You know, I was surprised. [1:05:04] Somebody said it's the only time it's ever been done. [1:05:06] I said, that's not possible. [1:05:07] But it is possible. [1:05:09] We're going into hundreds of thousands of soldiers along the path. [1:05:13] I mean, look at some of the helicopters, how they got hit. [1:05:18] So, yeah, there were people within the military that said it's the wise. [1:05:21] And don't forget, how many men did you send altogether, approximately, for the operation? [1:05:27] I'd love to keep that a secret, Mr. President. [1:05:29] Okay, well, yeah. [1:05:31] But I will tell you, the number, I'll keep it a secret, but it was hundreds. [1:05:36] And hundreds of these people. [1:05:38] That's pretty good. [1:05:39] Is he central? [1:05:40] Is he central? [1:05:41] I'm broadcasting. [1:05:42] But hundreds of people went into this journey. [1:05:46] Hundreds of people could have been killed. [1:05:48] Forget about the equipment. [1:05:49] A lot of equipment. [1:05:50] Nobody cares. [1:05:51] Hundreds of people could have been killed. [1:05:53] So, we had people that were within the military that said, this is not a wise. [1:05:57] And I understood that. [1:05:58] But I decided to do it. [1:06:00] Was there a point that they were going to, that you were thinking, there's too much on the line. [1:06:05] And somebody was saying, maybe we abort this now and wait. [1:06:08] I mean, given the resource like the General said. [1:06:10] It seemed like there was so much on the line here. [1:06:12] You must have been thinking, this could have completely changed the next three years. [1:06:15] So, the first one, which was in many ways as dangerous as the second, I guess it gets. [1:06:22] Because we're flying over daylight. [1:06:24] You know, we're the best at the world at night. [1:06:26] We have goggles that nobody. [1:06:28] We have goggles. [1:06:29] I've tried them. [1:06:30] They're unbelievable. [1:06:31] I see better with the goggles at night than I see without them during daylight. [1:06:35] I mean, daylight today, we have a beautiful day. [1:06:38] You see just as well with goggles. [1:06:40] In many ways, it's enhanced. [1:06:42] So, we have the best in the world. [1:06:45] So, it's much safer for us to do it at night. [1:06:48] Whereas other people, no other country has that capability. [1:06:51] They don't have that particular piece of equipment like we do. [1:06:55] But when I was told flying in daylight, I think we flew seven hours over Iran. [1:07:02] And that's a long time. [1:07:03] Over unbelievably hostile territory where they have nothing but weapons. [1:07:09] We took out their anti-aircraft, which is great. [1:07:11] We took out their radar, which is great. [1:07:13] We took out a lot. [1:07:14] But they still have, you know, what hit this one was a shoulder, hand-held shoulder missile, [1:07:20] heat-seeking missile. [1:07:21] So, it's not like, you know, they're totally whatever. [1:07:25] But, and they have probably a little luck because you got to get lucky. [1:07:30] But they shot it and it got sucked in right by the engine. [1:07:33] But these guys were out of there. [1:07:35] They were great. [1:07:36] Their timing was great. [1:07:37] But no, I was told that this is a very dangerous mission. [1:07:41] I understand. [1:07:42] They didn't say it's a foolish mission. [1:07:44] They said, you know, we're going to be sacrificing hundreds of people to do this. [1:07:48] This is, I mean, you have tankers that are flying over this area so that because the flight was so long, they had to refuel. [1:07:55] It's a very dangerous mission. [1:07:57] I just felt it was worth it. [1:07:59] If you would have told me that we would have been successful, gotten both, and nobody was even essentially injured, I would have said that would be impossible. [1:08:07] Yeah, please. [1:08:08] Mr. President, thank you very much. [1:08:10] Thank you, sir. [1:08:11] We'll come back to you. [1:08:12] Given that you are now dealing, you say, with a more reasonable, less extreme leadership in Iran, what does that mean for the protesters, for the human rights movement in that country after this conflict? [1:08:24] What's your expectation? [1:08:25] Well, I think it's positive. [1:08:26] Yeah, if they assume control, if we do something and they assume control, I think it's very positive, a big step. [1:08:32] I don't think you'd see the radicalization that you have seen in the last. [1:08:37] Look what happened. [1:08:38] I mean, women are being executed because they're not properly clothed. [1:08:41] They say they're not properly clothed and they execute the women. [1:08:45] They absolutely they shoot them right on the street. [1:08:48] No, you have a much different group of people. [1:08:52] Now, I'm not saying we are dealing with them. [1:08:55] Essentially, they have till eight o'clock tomorrow night Eastern Time. [1:09:00] But we are dealing with them. [1:09:02] I think it's going well. [1:09:03] Mr. Witkoff is here and J.D. is involved in the dealing. [1:09:07] Mr. Witkoff is sitting right here and I think it's going fine. [1:09:11] But we'll have to see. [1:09:12] We'll have to see. [1:09:13] You have to understand we've been dealing with these people for forty seven years. [1:09:18] I'm standing here with a much more powerful Iran as of a month ago. [1:09:24] Not anymore. [1:09:25] Right now they are decapitated. [1:09:27] But I'm standing here a month ago with a much more powerful Iran than it was at any point during forty seven years. [1:09:34] This should have been handled by seven presidents, a lot of presidents. [1:09:40] And those presidents are saying now every one of them to their friends. [1:09:44] We should have done this a long time ago. [1:09:46] So it's not something I like doing. [1:09:48] It's very dangerous. [1:09:49] And we're getting them at the height of of their strength. [1:09:53] If I didn't terminate the Barack Hussein Obama Iran nuclear deal, they would have had a. [1:09:59] Don't forget, that was a path to a nuclear weapon. [1:10:01] Remember this. [1:10:02] He chose Iran over Israel. [1:10:06] Pure and simple. [1:10:07] How and how Israel can vote for a Democrat is if you're Jewish in New York City. [1:10:14] Or any place else in this country. [1:10:16] And how you can vote for a Democrat is unbelievable. [1:10:19] Because he chose Iran. [1:10:22] A very hostile Iran. [1:10:24] Remember when he filled up a 757 with cash? [1:10:27] Billions of dollars of cash. [1:10:29] And he sent it over to them. [1:10:31] Then they gave them tens of billions of dollars. [1:10:34] He chose Iran over Israel. [1:10:37] And really the Arab world. [1:10:39] If you look. [1:10:40] Because you know the other. [1:10:41] Saudi Arabia. [1:10:42] Qatar. [1:10:43] UAE. [1:10:44] I mean you take a look. [1:10:45] I mean I can add Kuwait. [1:10:46] And I can add Bahrain. [1:10:48] And you can add others. [1:10:49] He chose such an unlikely candidate. [1:10:54] Nobody could believe it. [1:10:55] Frankly if you're going to choose between Iraq and Iran. [1:10:58] He should have chosen. [1:10:59] He should have befriended Iraq. [1:11:01] He went in the exact opposite direction of all thinking. [1:11:07] And he made a terrible mistake. [1:11:09] But that was a road to a nuclear weapon. [1:11:12] And when I terminated that. [1:11:14] Everyone said oh he terminated it. [1:11:16] It was one of the best things we ever did. [1:11:18] Because he had a road to a nuclear weapon. [1:11:20] And it was a very short term deal. [1:11:23] You know countries don't do ten year deals. [1:11:25] Countries do hundreds of years. [1:11:27] You don't do a ten year deal. [1:11:28] For a country you need. [1:11:29] This isn't. [1:11:30] You're a landlord. [1:11:31] You're renting a store on a certain street. [1:11:34] And you give somebody a five year or ten year lease. [1:11:36] This is a country. [1:11:37] It was a short term deal. [1:11:39] It was ready to expire. [1:11:41] I terminated it before it expired. [1:11:43] It took a lot of heat. [1:11:44] And it was one of the best things I ever did. [1:11:45] Because he would have had a nuclear weapon. [1:11:47] Then he would have had another nuclear weapon. [1:11:49] Had those beautiful B2 bombers not gone in eight months ago. [1:11:53] And obliterated that site. [1:11:55] And by the way. [1:11:56] The word is obliteration. [1:11:57] CNN said. [1:11:58] Well maybe it wasn't complete. [1:12:00] It was so complete that they still haven't been able to get it. [1:12:03] It was obliteration. [1:12:04] But if we didn't hit them. [1:12:06] That was a courageous decision too. [1:12:08] Because we had all those planes flying in at night. [1:12:11] With very little cover. [1:12:13] Unbelievable stealth planes. [1:12:16] And they were able to do their job. [1:12:18] If we didn't do that. [1:12:19] Iran would have had a nuclear weapon. [1:12:22] At a high level. [1:12:24] Either one of those two instances. [1:12:26] And if they did. [1:12:27] In my opinion. [1:12:28] I told this to Bibi Netanyahu yesterday. [1:12:32] Israel would have been extinguished. [1:12:36] Large portions of the Middle East. [1:12:38] Would have been extinguished. [1:12:40] Whether it's Saudi Arabia. [1:12:41] Qatar. [1:12:42] UAE. [1:12:43] Or others. [1:12:44] And you saw that with thousands of missiles raining down upon them. [1:12:47] They didn't think they were going to be hit. [1:12:49] They thought they'd be watching us fight. [1:12:51] And all of a sudden. [1:12:52] UAE got hit by 1500 missiles. [1:12:55] He would have taken them out also. [1:12:57] And they were powerful. [1:12:58] If I didn't come along. [1:13:01] And terminate the Obama deal. [1:13:03] Which was terrible. [1:13:04] The Iran nuclear deal. [1:13:05] Was a road to a nuclear weapon. [1:13:08] A big one. [1:13:09] Unlimited. [1:13:10] Legally. [1:13:11] I terminated it. [1:13:12] Without even much thought. [1:13:13] It was so easy. [1:13:14] I terminated that. [1:13:17] And then the B2 bombers. [1:13:18] And I did one other thing. [1:13:20] I had killed. [1:13:21] Qassam Soleimani. [1:13:24] Who was an evil genius. [1:13:26] And the reason I did it. [1:13:28] I heard he was going to knock out. [1:13:30] Five of our military bases. [1:13:32] And had he lived. [1:13:35] I believe we would be fighting. [1:13:37] Perhaps. [1:13:39] A different Iran right now. [1:13:41] Because. [1:13:42] Because he's never. [1:13:43] He's never been replaced. [1:13:45] You know. [1:13:46] And I also. [1:13:47] I did one other. [1:13:48] But this one was not picked up. [1:13:50] Osama Bin Laden. [1:13:51] If you read my book. [1:13:53] I say. [1:13:54] You got to take them out. [1:13:55] One year before the World Trade Center came down. [1:13:57] So I wish you'd read the book. [1:14:01] But you. [1:14:02] As a president. [1:14:03] To be a good president. [1:14:05] I believe you have to have good instincts. [1:14:07] And a lot of this is instinct. [1:14:08] Yeah. [1:14:09] Please. [1:14:10] Thank you so much. [1:14:11] Mr. President. [1:14:12] Last week. [1:14:13] Last week. [1:14:14] You suggested that Europe should take the lead on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. [1:14:19] Has circumstances changed now that you're issuing a direct 48 hour. [1:14:23] I mean. [1:14:24] This is a 48 hour ultimatum. [1:14:26] And secondly. [1:14:27] Would a new. [1:14:28] New cease fire include Israel. [1:14:29] Or would it just be between Iran. [1:14:30] I can't talk about cease fire. [1:14:32] But I can tell you that we have a active willing participant on the other side. [1:14:39] They would like to be able to make a deal. [1:14:40] I can't say any more than that. [1:14:41] President. [1:14:42] You've listed. [1:14:43] You've listed. [1:14:44] The goals. [1:14:45] Excuse me. [1:14:46] Please. [1:14:47] Go ahead. [1:14:48] You've listed. [1:14:49] The goals. [1:14:50] Who you with. [1:14:51] Who you with. [1:14:52] My name is. [1:14:53] Diakur. [1:14:54] networks. It's based in Iran. Go ahead. Mr. President, you said before that you don't want [1:15:00] the Kurdish forces to enter Iran and be harmed. Do you still want them to stay away? Or what role [1:15:05] do you expect them to play now? I'd rather have them stay away. I'd rather have them stay away [1:15:11] because I think they bring with them some problems and some difficulties. And I don't think they [1:15:16] bring death, I mean, you know, to themselves. But I'd rather have them stay away. Thank you, [1:15:25] Mr. President, for the question. Deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure violate the [1:15:30] Geneva Conventions and international law. Who are you with? I'm with the New York Times. [1:15:35] Zolan from the New York Times. Are you concerned? Are you concerned that your threat to bomb power [1:15:43] plants and bridges amount to a crime? No, no, no, no, no. I hope I don't have to do it. But [1:15:48] again, I just said 47 years they've been negotiating with these people. They're great [1:15:53] negotiators. And because they're not going to do it. [1:15:56] They're not going to have a nuclear weapon. And if somebody that takes my place someday [1:16:00] is weak and ineffective, which possibly that will happen because we had numerous presidents that [1:16:06] were weak, ineffective and afraid of Iran. We're never going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon. [1:16:14] And if you think it's OK for people that are sick of mind, that are tough, smart and sick, [1:16:22] really sick, ideal, you know, from from a policy standpoint, [1:16:27] from a stamp, any which way you want to say mentally, these are disturbed people. If you [1:16:33] think I'm going to allow them and powerful and rich to have a nuclear weapon, you can tell your [1:16:40] friends at the New York Times not going to happen. It means violating international law. [1:16:48] You no longer have credibility at the New York Times because the New York Times said, [1:16:53] oh, Trump won't win the election. And I won in a landslide. I won every swing state. New York [1:16:57] Times said, oh, Trump won't win the election. I won every swing state. I won every swing state. [1:16:58] New York Times says no credibility. The credibility they have is it used to be [1:17:03] all the news that's fit to print a great the old gray lady. It was great. But they're they're [1:17:08] running on past fumes and you can't keep doing that. You have to be able to give the correct [1:17:13] news. And people like you, who I know are fake. You're fake. Go ahead, please. [1:17:20] Your messaging on the war has moved from the war is coming to an end to we're going to be [1:17:25] bombing Iran to the Stone Ages. And we've heard a [1:17:28] range of those kind of messages. So are you. So which is it? Are you winding this down? Are you [1:17:34] I can't tell you. I don't know. I can't. It depends what they do. This is a critical period. [1:17:39] They have a period of well till tomorrow at eight o'clock. I gave them an extension. They asked for [1:17:46] an extension of seven days. Right. I said, Steve, give them 10 days. 10 days is up actually today. [1:17:55] So I gave him 11, I guess, indirectly. I thought it was inappropriate the day after Easter. [1:18:01] I'm going to be a nice person. They have till tomorrow. Now we'll see what happens. I can tell [1:18:08] you they're negotiating. We think in good faith we're going to find out. We're getting the help [1:18:13] of some incredible countries that want this to be ended because it affects them. Also, [1:18:19] a lot of people are affected by this. But we're giving them we're giving them till tomorrow eight [1:18:26] o'clock Eastern Time. And after that, they're going to have no bridges. They're going to have no power [1:18:32] gates. Stone ages. Yeah. So CNN fake news. Are you willing to make a deal that does not include [1:18:46] reopening the Strait of Hormuz or is that now a top priority? I would say it's a very big priority [1:18:51] because see, that's that's one thing that's a little different than other than we can bomb the [1:18:57] hell out of and we can knock them out for a loop. But to close the Strait, all you need is one [1:19:02] terrorist that somehow has a truck. [1:19:06] Loaded with because you can carry them in trucks, large trucks, a water mine, drop them in the water. [1:19:12] And now you tell people that own ships that cost a billion dollars to don't worry about the mine. [1:19:18] You can do that even just by saying we put mines in the water. So it's not like the rest. We can [1:19:24] knock out their military. We already have. We've knocked out their Navy. We've knocked out their [1:19:28] Air Force completely knocked out 158 ships in three days. We've knocked out even their mind [1:19:34] droppers. They don't have any mind droppers anymore. [1:19:37] Put them on other boats and they could drop them. I'm not even sure they have any minds yet, by the way. [1:19:41] I'm not sure. I'm personally they say there might be eight. I don't know. I don't know. I think there [1:19:47] might be none because they're very good bullshit artists. That's why for 47 years they've been [1:19:52] bullshitting other presidents and they haven't done the job. And people are living in hell. You live [1:19:58] in that country. They're living in hell. No, I think that 47 years of this stuff is long enough. [1:20:09] At this point, they've ever been. They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no anti [1:20:14] aircraft weaponry, they have no radar. They have no communication. In fact, the biggest problem we [1:20:20] have in our negotiation is that they can't communicate. I said to Steve, what are they [1:20:25] saying, sir? They can't communicate. They have no method of communication. So we're doing we're [1:20:30] communicating like they used to communicate 2000 years ago with children, bringing a note back [1:20:36] and forth. They have no communication. [1:20:40] is I want to have a safe world. And you're not going to have a safe world. Israel will be gone. [1:20:47] The Middle East will be gone. And then they're coming for Europe. And I have to tell you, [1:20:51] I'm very disappointed in NATO. Very. I think that NATO, I think it's a mark on NATO that will never [1:20:58] disappear, never disappear in my mind. You know, they're coming to see me on Wednesday. They're [1:21:02] going to say, oh, we'll do this. We'll do that. Now they all of a sudden want to send things, [1:21:06] you know. But they said it loud and clear at the beginning when I spoke to UK of all, [1:21:11] I would have said they would have been the first because they've been the oldest. And I say, [1:21:16] yeah, I'd love to have a little help. He said, no, sir, we'd rather wait till you win. I said, [1:21:21] I don't need help after we win. They have two old broken aircraft carriers, barely work. [1:21:26] I said, I guess we can use them. Who the hell knows? I called the general. He didn't even want [1:21:30] to. He said, we don't really need them. We got we got the SS Abraham Lincoln, sir. We don't need [1:21:36] them. You know, we have in terms of technology, we had one day a hundred and one missiles, [1:21:42] going at two thousand seven hundred miles an hour, aimed at the Abraham Lincoln. Hundred and [1:21:48] one missiles out of a hundred and one missiles. One hundred and one missiles were shot down. [1:21:56] Unbelievable technology. Ten years ago, five years ago, I don't know if that would have been [1:22:01] possible. But ten years ago, that wouldn't have been that wouldn't have been possible. [1:22:06] A hundred and one missiles heading to a ship that's not that far off the coast. And out of [1:22:14] the hundred and one missiles, we shut down all one hundred and one. We have weaponry. [1:22:19] The patriots are unbelievable. We have weaponry. That's unbelievable. Yeah. [1:22:28] Go ahead, please. [1:22:29] Thank you, Mr. President. You said earlier today during the annual that you would like to take [1:22:34] Iran's oil. But Americans want U.S. forces home. Correct. What's that trade? I had my choice to [1:22:41] if I had my choice. Yeah, because I'm a businessman first with Venezuela. As you know, the war was over [1:22:49] about 45 minutes. And we have great people running Venezuela. Very good people. I mean, the [1:22:55] relationship is good. And we are a partner with Venezuela. And we've taken hundreds of millions [1:23:03] of barrels, hundreds of millions, over 100 million barrels already is in Houston, refined and out [1:23:11] and paid, paid for that war many, many times over many times. And, you know, the old days [1:23:17] to the victim. OK, you know that to the to the. [1:23:23] The winner belonged to spoils. Go the spoils. And I've said, why don't we use it to the victor? [1:23:29] Go the spoils. And we don't have that. We haven't had that in this country probably in 100 years [1:23:34] because even the Second World War, you look at the Second World War. We didn't have it with the [1:23:38] Second World. We helped rebuild all those countries. We rebuilt Germany. How about Germany [1:23:42] telling us Germany telling us that, well, it's not their war. We had nothing to do with it. [1:23:49] They wanted me to go and tell them everything I was doing. [1:23:53] We didn't know anything about. [1:23:54] Well, if I would have told them, they would have leaked it and we wouldn't have been nearly [1:23:58] as successful, possibly. Right. But to the victor belong the spoils. So we haven't heard [1:24:04] we haven't heard that in, I think, maybe hundreds of years now with Venezuela. And just so you [1:24:11] understand, the people of Venezuela, they say, if I ran for president of Venezuela, [1:24:17] I'm pulling higher than anybody has ever pulled in Venezuela. So after I'm finished with this, [1:24:22] I can go to Venezuela. I will quickly learn Spanish. It won't take too long. I'm good. [1:24:26] It language. And I will go to Venezuela. I'm going to run for president. But we're very happy with [1:24:31] the president elect that we have right now. The the the people that are running it. If you remember [1:24:38] Bush with Iraq, they fired the generals. They fired the police. They fired the people that [1:24:43] worked in their equivalent of the White House. They fired everybody. And, you know, they had [1:24:48] they had a mess. And you know what happened? ISIS formed those generals and those soldiers [1:24:53] got together. The police got together. They all got together. [1:24:56] They formed ISIS. Not going to happen with us. So Venezuela has been an incredible it's [1:25:03] been an incredible situation. We went in. We were very successful military power like [1:25:08] nobody's ever seen. The general Venezuelan general said I was on that site. I said I've [1:25:13] never seen ferocity like that. I've been doing this for 40 years. He said I've never seen [1:25:19] it. They they hit us from 17 different. It was they were all set. They saw that big, [1:25:25] beautiful aircraft carrier, the Ford in that case. [1:25:29] Planes were pouring off it at one o'clock in the morning. So typically when you see [1:25:33] that late at night, you know, you could be in trouble. Right. And we were already they [1:25:41] had their equipment. It was Russian and they had Chinese equipment. It was all set. They [1:25:45] were going to give us a fight, he said. And then they came and they came at speeds like [1:25:51] we've never seen. And they came at 17 different angles. The general and his people, that was [1:25:57] a lot of angles. They hit him from every angle. [1:26:01] We knew it was over in three minutes. We were waiting for him. Their equipment didn't [1:26:07] work. And there's a reason it didn't work. Someday we'll explain that to people. They [1:26:12] pressed the button. Nothing happened. They pressed it again and again. Nothing happened. [1:26:17] And he said, we knew this whole thing was over in three minutes. We've never seen any. [1:26:22] He used the word ferocity, the ferocity of these planes from 17 different angles. And [1:26:28] it was over. They went inside. And remember, that was on a military base with thousands [1:26:32] of soldiers. And those soldiers looked and they said, get the hell out of here. Thousands. [1:26:38] We didn't have thousands. We had like 200 people. So we have a great military. And I'll [1:26:44] tell you what. Somehow this rescue captured the world's attention more so than normally. [1:26:51] You're talking about two people. But this rescue captured the world's attention. But [1:26:57] we did it in Venezuela. That was amazing. And now we have a very bad man in prison and [1:27:03] going to trial. [1:27:04] I mean, he he released aside from the drugs, which he was terrible. Maduro released hundreds [1:27:11] of thousands of people from jails into our country. Drug dealers, murderers, the worst [1:27:18] people in the world were released into our country because we had a stupid president [1:27:23] who probably didn't know. And we had a border czar who never went to the border and never [1:27:28] once called our great Border Patrol agents. Right. Not once. Kamala. She never called [1:27:32] the Border Patrol. She never said, how are we doing? [1:27:35] She used to call the Border Patrol guys every day. You can ask him, Paul, ask any one of [1:27:38] them. Brandon, ask him all the time. How are we doing? How are we doing? And we now, I'm [1:27:44] proud to say, have a totally sealed border. Nine months. Nobody is coming through. And [1:27:48] nobody even tries because they know they're not going to get through. So we don't have [1:27:51] caravans anymore. So maybe one or two more and we'll be done. [1:27:57] Mr. President, are you allowed to or are you willing to end this conflict with Iran charging [1:28:03] tolls for passengers through the street? [1:28:07] Us charging tolls? [1:28:08] Yes. [1:28:09] Iran? [1:28:10] What about us charging tolls? [1:28:12] Is that something you're considering? [1:28:13] I'd rather do that than let them have them running. Why shouldn't we? We're the winner. [1:28:17] We won. OK? They are militarily defeated. The only thing they have is the psychology [1:28:23] of, oh, we're going to drop a couple of mines in the water. All right? No. I mean, we have [1:28:28] a concept where we'll charge tolls. OK? I thought you meant us. [1:28:33] Your question would have been more accurate if you said us. Go ahead. [1:28:39] Thank you very much. [1:28:40] Just to clarify, in order for Iran to successfully meet your deadline tomorrow, do they have [1:28:45] to make a deal, open the strait, or both? [1:28:48] We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me. And part of that deal is going to be we [1:28:53] want free traffic of oil and everything else. [1:28:56] Mr. President, thank you very much. You've said glory be to God in this conflict. Do [1:29:05] you believe that God supports the United States' actions in this conflict? [1:29:08] I do, because God is good. [1:29:09] And have you sought his direction? [1:29:10] Because God is good. [1:29:11] And God wants to see people taken care of. God doesn't like what's happening. I don't [1:29:17] like what's happening. Everyone says, I enjoy it. I don't enjoy this. I don't enjoy it. [1:29:21] These two guys don't enjoy it. You know, people say, oh, boy, they're so tough. I don't like [1:29:26] seeing people killed. I've ended eight wars. Nobody's ever done it. The person who won [1:29:33] the Nobel Prize came to me and said, you deserve the Nobel Prize. She announced that. When [1:29:38] they announced, they said, it goes to Maria. She's a great person, really a good person. [1:29:44] No, no, no. This is ridiculous. They gave me the Nobel Prize. President Trump ended [1:29:50] eight wars. I could go over every one of them, including India and Pakistan, where the prime [1:29:55] minister of Pakistan said President Trump saved from 30 to 50 million lives. That makes [1:30:02] me much happier than what we're doing right now. That makes me much happier. We have one [1:30:07] more to end, by the way. [1:30:08] Mr. President, you called the — yesterday in your Truth Social, you called the Iranians [1:30:18] crazy bastards. [1:30:19] True. [1:30:20] What is your response to critics who say that — [1:30:23] I don't care about critics. [1:30:24] What is your response to critics who say that it is your mental health that should [1:30:27] perhaps be examined as this war continues? [1:30:28] Well, I haven't heard that. But if that's the case, you're going to have to have [1:30:32] more people like me, because our country was being ripped off on trade, on everything for [1:30:38] many years until I came along. So if that's the case, you're going to have to have more [1:30:42] people. [1:30:43] Josh, you go. Josh, you go. [1:30:45] You said that very little is off limits in Iran as far as targeting, including power [1:30:50] plants, bridges. You've mentioned those. [1:30:51] Very little is off limits. [1:30:52] Are there certain kinds of civilian targets, though? I'm thinking schools or hospitals [1:30:53] that you would say is off limits. [1:30:54] I don't want to tell you that. I don't want to tell you that. We have — we [1:31:00] have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated [1:31:09] by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business [1:31:16] — burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition — by [1:31:22] 12 o'clock. And it'll happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to. We don't want [1:31:27] that to happen. We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation. And you [1:31:33] know what? If that's the case, the last thing we want to do is start with power plants, [1:31:37] which are among the most expensive thing — and bridges. You saw the bridge. The bridge went. [1:31:43] We were very close to a deal. And then I got a call from Mr. Witkov, Mr. Kushner, and J.D., [1:31:53] saying, I think they're breaking the deal. [1:31:54] I said, tell them that's okay. Don't worry about it. But tell them to look out their [1:32:00] window and watch. And within 45 minutes, I gave the order to knock out the biggest bridge. [1:32:07] I gave the order, knock out the biggest bridge in, I believe, the Middle East, but the biggest [1:32:11] bridge in Iran. And within 10 minutes after I gave that order, that bridge was over. So [1:32:21] do I want to do that? No. Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? No. It will take the [1:32:26] U.S. a hundred years to rebuild. Right now, if we left today, it would take them 20 years [1:32:33] to rebuild their country, and it would never be as good as it was. And the only way they're [1:32:37] going to be able to rebuild their country is to utilize the genius of the United States [1:32:41] of America. [1:32:44] On NATO, you voiced your displeasure with NATO in the past. Is there a danger to the [1:32:50] U.S. not being the de facto leader of the alliance and then other powers within the [1:32:56] alliance then getting the decision-making? [1:32:57] No, it's not a danger. Look, we went to NATO. I didn't ask very strongly. I just said, [1:33:06] hey, if you want to help, great. No, no, no, we will not help. I said, that's all right. [1:33:10] You don't want to help? Because I've always said NATO is a paper tiger. See, NATO is a [1:33:15] paper tiger. Putin's not afraid of NATO. Putin's afraid of us, very afraid of us. And he's [1:33:22] explained it to me a lot of times. I got to know him very well. I know him very well. [1:33:27] NATO is a paper tiger. NATO is us. [1:33:29] And when we needed them, but we didn't need them, by the way. We didn't need them, obviously, [1:33:35] because they haven't helped at all. Just the opposite. They've actually gone out of their [1:33:39] way not to help. They didn't even want to give us landing strips. Think of it. And it's [1:33:44] not just NATO. You know who else didn't help us? South Korea didn't help us. You know who [1:33:49] else didn't help us? Australia didn't help us. You know who else didn't help us? Japan. [1:33:56] We've got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea. We have, you know, [1:34:02] 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong-un, who I get along with [1:34:09] very well, as you know. Do you notice he said very nice things about me? He used to call [1:34:14] Joe Biden a mentally retarded person. Okay? So don't tell me about your stuff. Joe Biden, [1:34:20] he said he's a mentally retarded person. He was so nasty to Joe Biden. It was terrible. [1:34:25] But to me, he likes Trump. And do you notice how nice things are with North Korea? It's [1:34:30] very nice. But we have 45,000 people. [1:34:33] Soldiers in harm's way. And right next to Kim Jong-un with a lot of nuclear weapons, [1:34:39] 45, which should have never happened. If a certain president, I'm not going to mention [1:34:44] this president because I happen to like him, believe it or not. But if a certain president [1:34:48] did his job, Kim Jong-un would not have nuclear weapons right now. But they're all afraid [1:34:53] to do their job properly. But just to conclude and just to finish, Japan didn't help us. [1:35:00] Australia didn't help us. South Korea didn't help us. And then you get to NATO. NATO didn't [1:35:05] help us. [1:35:05] There were some countries that did. Now, countries that have been good. Now, you could also [1:35:10] say they're got to be a little bit more involved because they're in the territory. But Saudi [1:35:15] Arabia has been excellent. Qatar has been excellent. UAE has been excellent. Bahrain, [1:35:21] Kuwait. I mean, Kuwait did shoot down three of our planes. The only planes really that [1:35:25] we lost with friendly fire, they call it. I call it unfriendly fire. [1:35:31] They unfortunately didn't know how to use our our great patriots. The pilots said, [1:35:38] what kind of a missile? [1:35:38] The missiles coming at us. Patriot. Boom. They got out because they know a patriot never [1:35:43] misses. So they had beautiful patriots. There were planes heading in their direction. Unfortunately, [1:35:51] they decided to shoot those planes. They were our planes. So, you know, NATO is a paper [1:35:57] tiger. Now, he's coming to see me on Wednesday. As you know, he's a wonderful guy. Secretary [1:36:03] General is great. And Mark Rutte, he's a great person. But he's got and you know, it all [1:36:10] began with if you want to know the truth. [1:36:12] Greenland. We want Greenland. They don't want to give it to us. And I said, bye bye. [1:36:18] Okay. Thank you very much.