Trump Declares Emergency LIVE — Historic White House Announcement Rocks the Nation! — US News LIVE

[0:00] Frankly, if you're going to choose between Iraq and Iran, [0:03] he should have chosen, he should have befriended Iraq. [0:06] He went in the exact opposite direction of all thinking, [0:12] and he made a terrible mistake. [0:13] But that was a road to a nuclear weapon. [0:17] And when I terminated that, everyone said, oh, he terminated it. [0:21] It was one of the best things we ever did, [0:22] because he had a road to a nuclear weapon. [0:24] And it was a very short-term deal. [0:27] You know, countries don't do 10-year deals. [0:29] Countries do hundreds of years. [0:32] You don't do a 10-year deal. [0:33] For a country, you need, this isn't, you're a landlord, [0:36] you're renting a store on a certain street, [0:39] and you give somebody a five-year or a 10-year lease. [0:41] This is a country. [0:42] It was a short-term deal. [0:44] It was ready to expire. [0:45] I terminated it before it expired. [0:48] It took a lot of heat, and it was one of the best things I ever did, [0:50] because he would have had a nuclear weapon. [0:52] Then he would have had another nuclear weapon, [0:54] had those beautiful B-2 bombers not gone in eight months ago, [0:57] and obliterated that site. [1:00] And by the way, the word is obliteration. [1:02] CNN said, well, maybe it wasn't complete. [1:05] It was so complete that they still haven't been able to get it. [1:08] It was obliteration. [1:09] But if we didn't hit them, that was a courageous decision, too, [1:14] because we had all those planes flying in at night [1:16] with very little cover, unbelievable stealth planes, [1:20] and they were able to do their job. [1:22] If we didn't do that, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon at a high level, [1:29] either one of those two instances. [1:31] And if they did, in my opinion, I told this to Bibi Netanyahu yesterday, [1:36] Israel would have been extinguished. [1:40] Large portions of the Middle East would have been extinguished, [1:44] whether it's Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, or others. [1:48] And you saw that with thousands of missiles raining down upon them. [1:51] They didn't think they were going to be hit. [1:52] They thought they'd be watching us fight. [1:55] And all of a sudden, UAE got hit by 1,500 missiles. [1:59] He would have taken them out also. [2:01] And they were powerful. [2:03] If I didn't come along and terminate the Obama deal, which was terrible, [2:08] the Iran nuclear deal was a road to a nuclear weapon, a big one, unlimited. [2:14] Legally, I terminated it without even much thought. [2:18] It was so easy. [2:20] I terminated that. [2:21] And then the B-2 bombers. [2:23] And I did one other thing. [2:24] I had killed Qasem Soleimani, who was an evil genius. [2:32] And the reason I did it, I heard he was going to knock out five of our military bases. [2:38] And had he lived, I believe we would be fighting, perhaps, a different Iran right now. [2:46] Because he's never been replaced. [2:50] And I also, I did one other, but this one was not picked up. [2:54] Osama bin Laden, if you read my book, I said you've got to take him out one year before the World Trade Center came down. [3:01] So I wish you'd read the book. [3:03] But you, as a president, to be a good president, I believe you have to have good instincts. [3:11] And a lot of this is instinct. [3:13] Yeah, please. [3:13] Thank you so much for taking my questions today, Mr. President. [3:16] Mr. President, last week, you suggested that Europe should take the lead on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. [3:23] Has circumstances changed now that you're issuing a direct 48-hour ultimatum? [3:30] And secondly, would a new ceasefire include Israel, or would it just be between Iran and the U.S.? [3:34] I can't talk about ceasefire, but I can tell you that we have an active, willing participant on the other side. [3:43] They would like to be able to make a deal. [3:45] I can't say any more than that. [3:46] I can't say any more than that. [3:46] I can't say any more than that. [3:47] Mr. President, thank you so much. [3:50] You've listed the goals. [3:51] Excuse me. [3:52] Please go ahead. [3:52] You've listed the goals. [3:53] Thank you, Mr. President. [3:54] Who you with? [3:54] Who you with? [3:55] My name is Diya Khurda. [3:56] I'm with the largest Kurdish media outlet, the Rudow Media Network. [3:59] It's based in Iran. [4:00] Go ahead. [4:00] Mr. President, you said before that you don't want the Kurdish forces to interact. [4:05] Iran and be harmed, do you still want them to stay away, or what role do you expect them to play now? [4:12] I'd rather have them stay away. [4:14] And then? [4:14] I'd rather have them stay away because I think they bring with them some problems and some difficulties. [4:19] And I don't think they bring death, I mean, you know, to themselves. [4:23] But I'd rather have them stay away. [4:25] Go ahead. [4:29] Thank you, Mr. President, for the question. [4:31] Deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure violate the Geneva Conventions and international law. [4:37] Who you with? [4:38] I'm with the New York Times. [4:39] Zolan from the New York Times. [4:40] Are you concerned? [4:41] The failing. [4:42] Are you concerned? [4:42] Is the circulation way down at the New York Times? [4:44] Are you concerned that your threat to bomb power plants and bridges amount to war crimes? [4:49] No, no, no, no, no. [4:50] I hope I don't have to do it. [4:52] But, again, I just said 47 years they've been negotiating with these people. [4:57] They're great negotiators. [4:58] And because they're not going to have a nuclear weapon. [5:03] And if somebody that takes my place someday is weak and ineffective, which possibly that will happen, [5:09] because we had numerous presidents that were weak, ineffective, and afraid of Iran, [5:14] we're never going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon. [5:18] And if you think it's okay for people that are sick of mind, that are tough, smart, and sick, really sick, [5:27] ideal, you know, from a policy standpoint, from a standpoint, any which way you want to say, [5:35] mentally, these are disturbed people. [5:37] If you think I'm going to allow them, and powerful and rich, to have a nuclear weapon, [5:43] you can tell your friends at the New York Times, not going to happen. [5:47] Even if it means violating international law. [5:51] Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet. [5:53] You no longer have credibility at the New York Times. [5:55] Because the New York Times said, oh, Trump won't win the election, and I won in a landslide. [6:00] I won every swing state. [6:01] New York Times said, oh, Trump won't win the election. [6:04] New York Times has no credibility. [6:06] The credibility they have is, it used to be all the news that's fit to print. [6:10] A great, the old gray lady, it was great. [6:12] But they're running on past fumes, and you can't keep doing that. [6:16] You have to be able to give the correct news. [6:19] And people like you, who I know, are fake. [6:22] You're fake. [6:23] Go ahead, please. [6:24] Mr. President, your messaging on the war has moved from, the war is coming to an end, [6:29] to we're going to be bombing Iran to the Stone Ages. [6:32] And we've heard a range of those kind of messages. [6:35] So are you, so which is it? [6:36] Are you winding this down? [6:38] I can't tell you. [6:38] Or are you escalating it? [6:39] I can't tell you. [6:39] I don't know. [6:40] I can't tell you. [6:41] Depends what they do. [6:42] This is a critical period. [6:43] They have a period of, well, till tomorrow at 8 o'clock. [6:49] I gave them an extension. [6:50] They asked for an extension of seven days, right? [6:52] I said, Steve, give them 10 days. [6:58] 10 days is up actually today. [7:00] So I gave them 11, I guess, indirectly. [7:02] I thought it was inappropriate the day after Easter. [7:05] I want to be a nice person. [7:07] They have till tomorrow. [7:10] Now, we'll see what happens. [7:11] I can tell you they're negotiating. [7:13] We think in good faith. [7:15] We're going to find out. [7:16] We're getting the help of some incredible countries [7:19] that want this to be ended because it affects them also. [7:23] A lot of people are affected by this. [7:26] But we're giving them, we're giving them till tomorrow, [7:30] 8 o'clock Eastern Time. [7:32] And after that, they're going to have no bridges. [7:35] They're going to have no power plants. [7:39] Stone Ages, yeah. [7:40] Stone Ages. [7:41] Stone Ages, CNN fake news. [7:46] Are you willing to make a deal [7:48] that does not include reopening the Strait of Hormuz [7:51] or is that now a top priority? [7:53] I would say it's a very big priority because, [7:56] see, that's one thing that's a little different than other. [8:00] We can bomb the hell out of them. [8:02] We can knock them out for a loop. [8:04] But to close the Strait, all you need is one terrorist [8:07] that somehow has a truck loaded with, [8:11] because you can carry them in trucks, large trucks, [8:13] a water mine, drop them in the water, [8:18] and now you tell people that own ships that cost a billion dollars [8:21] to don't worry about the mine. [8:22] You can do that even just by saying we put mines in the water. [8:26] So it's not like the rest. [8:28] We can knock out their military. [8:29] We already have. [8:30] We've knocked out their Navy. [8:32] We've knocked out their Air Force completely. [8:34] We've knocked out 158 ships in three days. [8:36] We've knocked out even their mine droppers. [8:39] They don't have any mine droppers anymore. [8:41] But they put them on other boats and they could drop them. [8:44] I'm not even sure they have any mines there, by the way. [8:46] I'm not sure. [8:47] Personally, they say there might be eight. [8:50] I don't know. [8:50] I don't know. [8:51] I think there might be none. [8:52] Because they're very good bullshit artists. [8:55] That's why for 47 years they've been bullshitting other presidents [8:58] and they haven't done the job. [9:00] And people are living in hell. [9:02] You live in that country. [9:04] They're living in hell. [9:06] No, I think that 47 years of this stuff is long enough. [9:12] They're at the weakest point they've ever been. [9:15] They have no Navy. [9:16] They have no Air Force. [9:17] They have no anti-aircraft weaponry. [9:20] They have no radar. [9:21] They have no communication. [9:22] In fact, the biggest problem we have in our negotiation [9:25] is that they can't communicate. [9:27] I said to Steve, what are they saying? [9:29] Sir, they can't communicate. [9:31] They have no method of communication. [9:34] So we're doing, we're communicating like they used to communicate [9:36] 2,000 years ago with children, bringing a note back and forth. [9:41] They have no communication. [9:43] But all I want to see is I want to have a safe world. [9:46] And you're not going to have a safe world. [9:49] Israel will be gone. [9:51] The Middle East will be gone. [9:52] And then they're coming for Europe. [9:55] And I have to tell you, I'm very disappointed in NATO. [9:58] Very. [9:58] I think that NATO, I think it's a mark on NATO that will never disappear. [10:03] Never disappear in my mind. [10:04] You know, they're coming to see me on Wednesday. [10:06] They're going to say, oh, we'll do this, we'll do that. [10:08] Now they all of a sudden want to send things, you know. [10:11] But they said it loud and clear at the beginning when I spoke to UK of all, I would have said [10:16] they would have been there first because they've been, they're the oldest. [10:19] And I say, yeah, I'd love to have a little help. [10:22] He said, no, sir, we'd rather wait till you win. [10:25] I said, I don't need help after we win. [10:28] They have two old broken aircraft carriers, barely work. [10:31] I said, I guess we can use them. [10:32] Who the hell knows? [10:33] I called the general. [10:34] He didn't even want to. [10:35] He said, we don't really need them. [10:36] We got, we got the SS Abraham Lincoln, sir. [10:40] We don't need them. [10:41] You know, we have, in terms of technology, we had one day 101 missiles going at 2,700 miles [10:49] an hour aimed at the Abraham Lincoln. [10:52] 101 missiles. [10:54] Out of 101 missiles, 101 missiles were shot down. [11:00] Unbelievable technology. [11:01] Ten years ago, five years ago, I don't know if that would have been possible. [11:06] But ten years ago, that wouldn't have been, that wouldn't have been possible. [11:11] 101 missiles heading to a ship that's not that far off the coast. [11:18] And out of the 101 missiles, we shot down all 101. [11:22] We have weaponry. [11:24] The patriots are unbelievable. [11:25] We have weaponry that's unbelievable. [11:28] Yeah. [11:29] Go ahead, please. [11:34] Thank you, Mr. President. [11:35] You said earlier today, during the egg roll, that you would like to take Iran's oil, [11:40] but Americans want U.S. forces home. [11:43] Correct. [11:43] What's that tradeoff? [11:44] If I had my choice, if I had my choice, yeah, because I'm a businessman first. [11:50] With Venezuela, as you know, the war was over in about 45 minutes. [11:54] And we have great people running Venezuela, very good people. [11:59] I mean, the relationship is good. [12:01] And we are a partner with Venezuela. [12:04] And we've taken hundreds of millions of barrels, hundreds of millions. [12:10] Over 100 million barrels already is in Houston, refined and out. [12:15] And paid for that war many, many times over. [12:19] Many times over. [12:20] You know, the old days, to the victim, okay? [12:24] You know that. [12:25] To the winner belong the spoils. [12:29] Go the spoils. [12:30] And I've said, why don't we use it? [12:32] To the victor, go the spoils. [12:35] And we don't have that. [12:36] We haven't had that in this country probably in 100 years. [12:38] Because even the Second World War, you look at the Second World War. [12:42] We didn't have it with the Second World War. [12:43] We helped rebuild all those countries. [12:45] We rebuilt Germany. [12:46] How about Germany telling us? [12:48] Germany telling us that, well, it's not their war. [12:53] We had nothing to do with getting it. [12:54] They wanted me to go and tell them everything I was doing. [12:57] We didn't know anything about it. [12:59] Well, if I would have told them, they would have leaked it. [13:01] And we wouldn't have been nearly as successful, possibly, right? [13:05] But to the victor belong the spoils. [13:07] So we haven't heard that in, I think, maybe hundreds of years. [13:14] Now, with Venezuela, and just so you understand, the people of Venezuela, [13:18] they say if I ran for president of Venezuela, [13:22] I'm polling higher than anybody has ever polled in Venezuela. [13:25] So after I'm finished with this, I can go to Venezuela. [13:27] I will quickly learn Spanish. [13:29] It won't take too long. [13:30] I'm good at language. [13:31] And I will go to Venezuela. [13:33] I'm going to run for president. [13:34] But we're very happy with the president-elect that we have right now, [13:38] the people that are running it. [13:41] If you remember Bush with Iraq, they fired the generals. [13:46] They fired the police. [13:47] They fired the people that worked in there, equivalent of the White House. [13:50] They fired everybody. [13:52] And you know what they had? [13:53] They had a mess. [13:54] And you know what happened? [13:55] ISIS formed. [13:56] Those generals and those soldiers got together. [13:59] The police got together. [14:00] They all got together. [14:01] They formed ISIS. [14:02] Not going to happen with us. [14:04] So Venezuela has been an incredible, it's been an incredible situation. [14:09] We went in. [14:10] We were very successful. [14:11] Military power like nobody's ever seen. [14:14] The general, Venezuelan general said, I was on that site. [14:17] I said, I've never seen ferocity like that. [14:21] I've been doing this for 40 years. [14:22] He said, I've never seen it. [14:23] They hit us from 17 different. [14:25] It was, they were all set. [14:28] They saw that big, beautiful aircraft carrier, the Ford in that case. [14:33] And planes were pouring off it at one o'clock in the morning. [14:36] So typically when you see that late at night, you know, you could be in trouble. [14:42] Right? [14:42] And we were all ready. [14:45] They had their equipment. [14:46] It was Russian. [14:47] And they had Chinese equipment. [14:49] It was all set. [14:49] They were going to give us a fight. [14:52] He said, and then they came. [14:54] And they came at speeds like we've never seen. [14:56] And they came at 17 different angles. [15:00] The general and his people, that was a lot of angles. [15:02] They hit him from every angle. [15:04] He said, we knew it was over in three minutes. [15:09] We were waiting for him. [15:10] Their equipment didn't work. [15:12] And there's a reason it didn't work. [15:14] Someday we'll explain that to people. [15:16] They pressed the button. [15:17] Nothing happened. [15:18] They pressed it again and again. [15:20] Nothing happened. [15:21] And he said, we knew this whole thing was over in three minutes. [15:24] We've never seen any. [15:25] He used the word ferocity. [15:28] The ferocity of these planes from 17 different angles. [15:32] And it was over. [15:32] They went inside. [15:34] And remember, that was on a military base with thousands of soldiers. [15:38] And those soldiers looked and they said, get the hell out of here. [15:42] Thousands. [15:42] We didn't have thousands. [15:43] We had like 200 people. [15:44] So, we have a great military. [15:49] And I'll tell you what, somehow this rescue captured the world's attention. [15:54] More so than normally. [15:56] You're talking about two people. [15:58] But this rescue captured the world's attention. [16:01] But we did it in Venezuela. [16:03] That was amazing. [16:04] And now we have a very bad man in prison and going to trial. [16:08] I mean, he released, aside from the drugs, which he was terrible, Maduro released hundreds [16:15] of thousands of people from jails into our country. [16:20] Drug dealers, murderers, the worst people in the world were released into our country [16:24] because we had a stupid president who probably didn't know. [16:29] And we had a border czar who never went to the border and never once called our great border [16:33] patrol agents, right? [16:35] Not once, Kamala. [16:36] She never called the border patrol. [16:38] She never said, how are we doing? [16:39] I used to call the border patrol guys every day. [16:41] You can ask them. [16:42] Paul, ask any one of them. [16:44] Brandon, ask them all the time. [16:46] How are we doing? [16:47] How are we doing? [16:48] And we now, I'm proud to say, have a totally sealed border. [16:51] Nine months, nobody is coming through our border. [16:53] And nobody even tries because they know they're not going to get through. [16:55] So we don't have caravans anymore. [16:57] So maybe one or two more and we'll be done. [17:01] Mr. President, are you allowed to, are you willing to end this conflict with Iran charging [17:08] tolls for passengers through the street? [17:11] Us charging tolls? [17:13] Iran. [17:14] What about us charging tolls? [17:15] Is that something you're considering? [17:17] I'd rather do that than let them have them running. [17:19] Why shouldn't we? [17:20] We're the winner. [17:21] We won, okay? [17:23] They are militarily defeated. [17:25] The only thing they have is the psychology of, oh, we're going to drop a couple of mines [17:30] in the water, all right? [17:31] No, we, I mean, we have a concept where we'll charge tolls, okay? [17:35] I thought you meant us. [17:37] Your question, your question would, your question would have been more accurate if you said us. [17:42] Go ahead. [17:43] Mr. President, thank you very much. [17:44] Just to clarify, in order for Iran to successfully meet your deadline tomorrow, do they have to [17:50] make a deal, open the street, or both? [17:52] We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me. [17:56] And part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else. [18:01] Mr. President, thank you very much. [18:07] You've said glory be to God in this conflict. [18:09] Do you believe that God supports the United States' actions in this world? [18:12] I do, because God is good, because God is good, and God wants to see people taken care [18:19] of. [18:19] God doesn't like what's happening. [18:21] I don't like what's happening. [18:22] Everyone says, I enjoy it. [18:23] I don't enjoy this. [18:24] I don't enjoy it. [18:25] These two guys don't enjoy it. [18:27] You know, people say, oh, boy, they're so tough. [18:29] They don't want, they don't like, I don't like seeing people killed. [18:32] I've ended eight wars. [18:34] Nobody's ever done it. [18:36] The person who won the Nobel Prize came to me and said, you deserve the Nobel Prize. [18:41] She announced that when they announced, they said, it goes to Maria. [18:45] She's a great person, really a good person. [18:48] She said, no, no, no. [18:50] This is ridiculous. [18:52] They gave me the Nobel Prize. [18:53] President Trump ended eight wars. [18:55] I could go over every one of them, including India and Pakistan, where the prime minister [19:00] of Pakistan said, President Trump saved from 30 to 50 million lives. [19:05] That makes me much happier than what we're doing right now. [19:10] That makes me much happier. [19:11] We have one more to end, by the way. [19:17] President, you called the, yesterday in your Truth Social, you called the Iranians crazy [19:22] bastards. [19:23] True. [19:24] What is your response to critics who say that it's... [19:27] I don't care about critics. [19:28] What is your response to critics who say that it's your mental health that should perhaps [19:31] be examined as this war continues? [19:33] I haven't heard that. [19:34] But if that's the case, you're going to have to have more people like me, because our country [19:38] was being ripped off on trade, on everything, for many years until I came along. [19:45] So if that's the case, you're going to have to have more people. [19:47] Josh, you go ahead. [19:48] Josh, you go. [19:50] You said that very little is off limits in Iran as far as targeting, including power plants, [19:55] bridges. [19:55] You've mentioned those. [19:56] Very little is off limits. [19:57] Are there certain kinds of civilian targets, though? [19:59] I'm thinking schools or hospitals that you... [20:01] I don't want to tell you that. [20:02] I don't want to tell you that. [20:02] We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be [20:12] decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, [20:21] burning, exploding, and never to be used again. [20:24] I mean, complete demolition by 12 o'clock. [20:28] And it'll happen over a period of four hours if we wanted to. [20:31] We don't want that to happen. [20:33] We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation. [20:38] And you know what? [20:38] If that's the case, the last thing we want to do is start with power plants, which are [20:42] among the most expensive things... [20:44] And bridges. [20:45] You saw the bridge. [20:46] The bridge one. [20:47] We were very close to a deal. [20:49] And then I got a call from Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Kushner, and J.D. saying, I think they're [20:59] breaking the deal. [20:59] I said, tell them that's okay. [21:02] Don't worry about it. [21:03] But tell them to look out their window and watch. [21:05] And within 45 minutes, I gave the order to knock out the biggest bridge. [21:11] I gave the order to knock out the biggest bridge in, I believe, the Middle East, but [21:15] the biggest bridge in Iran. [21:16] And within 10 minutes after I gave that order, that bridge was over. [21:23] So, do I want to do that? [21:26] No. [21:26] Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? [21:29] No. [21:30] It will take them 100 years to rebuild. [21:32] Right now, if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country, and [21:39] it would never be as good as it was. [21:41] And the only way they're going to be able to rebuild their country is to utilize the genius [21:45] of the United States of America. [21:46] You voiced your displeasure with NATO in the past. [21:53] Is there a danger to the U.S. not being the de facto of the leader of the alliance, and [21:58] then other powers within the alliance, then getting the decision-making when it comes to [22:03] wars and nuclear weapons? [22:04] Yeah, no, it's not a danger. [22:06] NATO's, look, we went to NATO. [22:08] I didn't ask very strongly. [22:10] I just said, hey, if you want to help, great. [22:12] No, no, no, we will not help. [22:14] I said, that's all right. [22:15] You don't want to help? [22:16] Because I've always said NATO's a paper tiger. [22:18] See, NATO's a paper tiger. [22:21] Putin's not afraid of NATO. [22:23] Putin's afraid of us, very afraid of us. [22:25] And he's explained it to me a lot of times. [22:28] I got to know him very well. [22:29] I know him very well. [22:31] NATO's a paper tiger. [22:33] NATO is us. [22:34] And when we needed them, but we didn't need them, by the way. [22:38] We didn't need them, obviously, because they haven't helped at all. [22:41] Just the opposite. [22:42] They've actually gone out of their way not to help. [22:44] They didn't even want to give us landing strips. [22:47] He's great. [22:47] And Pete, all I can say is that he was treated very unfairly. [22:53] And now those same people that treated him unfairly, that fought against him, they called [22:57] me up saying, what a great choice he was. [23:00] They said, well, what happened during his nomination? [23:03] What happened to you? [23:04] I'm telling you, people that were not forum senators, friends of mine, sir, I don't think [23:09] you're doing the right thing. [23:10] Now they're calling me up. [23:11] What a choice. [23:13] These two guys are fantastic. [23:14] And John Ratcliffe was incredible. [23:17] It was actually their genius that called us from, he was 40 miles away. [23:23] And he said, you know, we're seeing something moving up in the mountain. [23:28] This is at night. [23:30] And they kept the camera on him for 45 minutes. [23:33] He wasn't moving. [23:33] And they said, you know, probably wrong, but we're seeing something moving. [23:38] This is a vast mountain, vast, thick, with bushes, trees. [23:44] He said, we see something moving, 40 miles away. [23:48] It was the head of a human being, I'm telling you, it's moving. [23:54] And then all of a sudden, 45 minutes later, he moved a lot. [23:58] Stood up, and they said, we have him. [24:01] And that was really the beginning of something incredible. [24:05] We had an idea where he was, but not specifically. [24:08] That's a big mountain. [24:10] So I want to thank the CIA, too. [24:13] I don't think they get enough credit for the great job they've done. [24:17] Yes, please. [24:17] Thank you very much, Mr. President, for this great opportunity. [24:24] Country, it has a super army. [24:27] You make a difference, Mr. President. [24:29] Thank you for your greatest leadership. [24:31] Thank you. [24:32] I have two quick questions, Mr. President. [24:35] What was your reaction when you learned that Kurdistan region had resumed exporting oil [24:42] to the international market with your support as United States of America? [24:47] Well, I expected that. [24:49] We've gotten along with the Kurds for a long time, so I expected that. [24:54] Another question. [24:55] What would be your reaction if the Iranian people rise up against their regime during a case fire, Mr. President? [25:06] Well, they should do it. [25:07] But, again, the consequences are great. [25:10] I mean, they were told, if you protest, you will be shot immediately. [25:14] You saw what happened to the young wrestler. [25:16] He was a great champion, by the way. [25:18] He was a great wrestler, one of the top in the world. [25:20] And he and his two friends were hung. [25:24] And all they did was say a little bit about liberty. [25:27] They wanted liberty. [25:28] And they were violently executed. [25:32] But the number is up to probably 45,000 people were killed. [25:36] So, you know, when somebody stays in a house, when they know if they walk out of the house to protest, [25:40] they'll be immediately shot and killed. [25:43] And they issued that. [25:44] You know, that was publicly issued. [25:46] It's not a secret. [25:47] That's why so many people say, oh, well, why are you doing this way? [25:50] We can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. [25:54] You know, we got regime change. [25:56] We do. [25:57] We're dealing with a much different regime than before. [25:59] We're dealing with different people. [26:01] They're smarter. [26:03] I think they're sharper and far less radical. [26:07] We have regime change. [26:09] But we didn't do this for regime change. [26:11] We did it for the fact. [26:13] And my view was very simple. [26:16] I saw somebody who said, oh, he doesn't have a plan. [26:18] I have the best plan of all. [26:19] But I'm not going to tell you what my plan is. [26:21] You know, they want me to say, here's my plan. [26:23] We're going to attack at 9.47 in the morning. [26:26] And then we're going to do this. [26:27] And then we're going to. [26:28] And if you don't do that, they say, I have a plan. [26:31] These people know what the plan is. [26:32] Everybody here knows what the plan is. [26:34] But it's very unfair to say, you know, because I don't mind being insulted. [26:39] I've been insulted for many years by the fake news. [26:42] But you can't. [26:44] It's so bad for the people that are so pro. [26:47] You just saw two great and John Ratcliffe, three unbelievable people. [26:52] They have a plan. [26:53] Every single thing has been thought out by all of us. [26:57] But I can't reveal the plan to the media. [27:00] So, you know. [27:01] But we're just thrilled by the success of this operation. [27:04] Yes, please. [27:05] Thank you, Mr. President. [27:06] You've said Iranians would be mad if you stopped these attacks. [27:09] But why would they want you to blow up their infrastructure, to cut off their power? [27:13] Wouldn't that be punishing Iranians for the actions of the regime? [27:17] They would be willing to. [27:18] They would be willing. [27:19] And it's suffering. [27:20] They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom. [27:23] The Iranians have. [27:25] And we've had numerous intercepts. [27:28] Please keep bombing. [27:30] Bombs that are dropping near their homes. [27:32] Please keep bombing. [27:34] Do it. [27:35] And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding. [27:39] And when we leave and we're not hitting those areas, they're saying, please come back, come back, come back. [27:45] These are the people. [27:47] I don't know what they do. [27:49] All I can tell you is they want freedom. [27:51] They have lived in a world that you know nothing about. [27:55] It's a violent, horrible world where if you protest, you are shot. [28:00] Remember the great woman protest where they had 400,000, 500,000 women and they were all enthused [28:06] and they were going to protest and everybody said, oh, the regime is going to come to an end. [28:11] And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, five, six different areas, a woman would go down right between the eyes. [28:22] They had snipers, they had five snipers. [28:23] That's all it took. [28:25] And those four or five hundred thousand women said, oh, my God, what's that? [28:30] Oh, look over there. [28:31] What's that? [28:32] A woman shot right between the eyes. [28:35] And after five or six of them go down, then you start hearing the purr through the vast number of people. [28:46] And then they said, oh, my God, who would do that? [28:49] And they're incredible people. [28:51] But they've lived so horribly. [28:53] They've lived so horribly. [28:55] You know, Iran was a great country if you go back 25 years ago or so. [28:59] The Persian people, they're incredible, smart, brilliant, actually. [29:04] And I know so many. [29:06] I know coming from New York, originally, I know so many people from Iran. [29:10] They're incredible people, incredible energy and very, very brilliant people. [29:16] But when you're standing in a group and protesting and you have a woman, in the case of a woman, remember the great woman march. [29:22] Everybody was like, oh, this is the end of the country. [29:26] And then snipers selectively picked. [29:29] Every single one was shot right between the eyes from a long distance. [29:33] They were on top of buildings. [29:35] Nobody even knew where they were, where they're coming from. [29:37] This wasn't like a machine gun, which is also very bad. [29:40] They've done that, too. [29:41] They did that recently. [29:43] This was snipers sitting on the top of buildings, aiming and hitting women. [29:49] 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. [29:57] And a lot of the news doesn't talk about that. [29:59] They talk about, oh, women's rights. [30:02] You want to see women's rights? [30:03] You're not going to see it there. [30:05] It's amazing when I see some of the stupid people like, you know, AOC plus three, all that group. [30:10] They talk about, oh, freedom for Iran. [30:14] They don't tell you the real facts. [30:16] Women, men, gays. [30:19] How about gays for Iran? [30:22] They kill the gays. [30:23] They throw them off buildings. [30:25] So I wonder what's going on. [30:27] I can only say this. [30:30] They want us to keep bombing, even if it jeopardizes because their life is in much greater danger. [30:36] They want freedom for Iran. [30:37] But it's very hard for them to protest. [30:39] I actually tell them, I said, don't go out. [30:41] I fully understand. [30:43] Nobody in this room would go out. [30:44] I don't think there's anything. [30:45] Because, frankly, it's not a question of bravery. [30:47] We're all brave, right? [30:48] You're brave. [30:48] I'm brave. [30:49] We're all brave. [30:50] But we're also intelligent. [30:52] If you have people shooting at you, expert shots, with the best rifles you can get, [31:00] and hitting you right between the eyes every single time, [31:03] and you're looking here, and you're seeing, and you're looking here, [31:05] you're out of there. [31:07] I don't care who. [31:09] Mark Meredith, Fox News. [31:11] I know that. [31:12] Oh, thank you. [31:13] Go ahead. [31:14] America's watching. [31:15] No, can we go back to the weekend? [31:18] First off, was everyone on board with the operation, [31:21] or were there people that were trying to talk you out of going through with the operation this weekend? [31:24] Not everybody was on board. [31:26] Somebody else within you? [31:27] No, there were military people, very professional, that preferred not doing it. [31:32] These two were totally on board, which was very important. [31:36] They weren't. [31:37] I would have had a little difficulty. [31:38] But, no, there were military people that said, you just don't do this. [31:42] You don't go into the heart of a very powerful military. [31:46] You know, this is, hey, you have countries and countries. [31:49] You have some countries where the military is not their sarong suit. [31:52] This whole thing is militarized like nobody's ever seen before. [31:56] Half the people are wearing uniforms. [31:59] And we had people within the military. [32:03] Usually it's not done. [32:04] That's one of the reasons. [32:05] You know, I was surprised. [32:06] Somebody said it's the only time it's ever been done. [32:08] I said, that's not possible. [32:10] But it is possible. [32:11] Because you're going into hundreds of thousands of soldiers along the path. [32:17] I mean, look at some of the helicopters, how they got hit. [32:21] So, yeah, there were people within the military that said it's a wise. [32:24] And don't forget, how many men did you send all together, approximately, for the operation? [32:30] I'd love to keep that a secret, Mr. Cohen. [32:31] Okay, well, we are. [32:32] But I will tell you, the number, I'll keep it a secret, but it was hundreds. [32:39] And hundreds of these people, that's pretty good. [32:42] Is he central, is he central casting? [32:45] But hundreds of people went into this journey. [32:49] Hundreds of people could have been killed. [32:51] Forget about the equipment. [32:52] A lot of equipment. [32:52] Nobody cares. [32:53] Hundreds of people could have been killed. [32:56] So we had people that were within the military that said, this is not a wise. [33:00] And I understood that, but I decided to do it. [33:03] Was there a point that they were going to, that you were thinking, [33:07] there's too much on the line, and somebody was saying, [33:09] maybe we abort this now and wait? [33:12] I mean, given the resource, like the general said, [33:14] it seemed like there was so much on the line here. [33:16] You must have been thinking, this could have completely changed the next three years. [33:18] So, the first one, which was in many ways as dangerous as the second, [33:24] I guess it gets, because we're flying over daylight. [33:28] You know, we're the best at the world at night. [33:29] We have goggles that nobody, we have goggles. [33:32] I've tried them, I believe. [33:33] I see better with the goggles at night than I see without them during daylight. [33:38] I mean, daylight today, we have a beautiful day. [33:41] You see just as well with goggles. [33:44] In many ways, it's enhanced. [33:45] So we have the best in the world. [33:47] So it's much safer for us to, for us to do it at night, [33:51] whereas other people, no other country has that capability. [33:54] They don't have the, they don't have that particular piece of equipment like we do. [33:57] But when I was told flying, and in daylight, I think we flew seven hours over Iran, [34:06] and that's a long time, over unbelievably hostile territory where they have nothing but weapons. [34:12] We took out their anti-aircraft, which is great. [34:15] We took out their radar, which is great. [34:17] We took out a lot, but they still have, you know, what hit this one was a shoulder, [34:22] handheld shoulder missile, heat-seeking missile. [34:24] So it's not like, you know, they're totally whatever. [34:28] But, but, and they have probably a little luck, because you got to get lucky. [34:33] But they shot it, and it got sucked in right by the engine. [34:37] But these guys were out of there. [34:38] They were great. [34:39] Their timing was great. [34:40] But, no, I was told that this is a very dangerous mission. [34:45] I understand. [34:45] They didn't say it's a foolish mission. [34:47] They said, you know, we're going to be sacrificing hundreds of people do this. [34:51] This is, I mean, you have tankers that are flying over this area so that they, [34:55] because the flight was so long, they had to refuel. [34:58] It's a very dangerous mission. [35:00] I just felt it was worth it. [35:02] If you would have told me that we would have been successful, [35:05] gotten both, and nobody was even essentially injured, [35:09] I would have said that would be impossible. [35:10] Yeah, Bruce. [35:11] Mr. President, thank you very much. [35:13] Thank you, sir. [35:13] Well, I'll come back to you. [35:14] Okay, thank you. [35:15] Given that you are now dealing, you say, [35:18] with a more reasonable, less extreme leadership in Iran, [35:23] what does that mean for the protesters, [35:25] for the human rights movement in that country after this conflict? [35:28] What's your expectation? [35:29] Yeah, if they assume control, [35:31] if we do something and they assume control, [35:33] I think it's very positive. [35:34] A big step. [35:36] I don't think you'd see the radicalization [35:38] that you have seen in the last. [35:40] Look what happened. [35:41] I mean, women are being executed [35:43] because they're not properly clothed, they say. [35:46] They're not properly clothed, [35:48] and they execute the women. [35:49] They absolutely, they shoot them right on the street. [35:53] No, you have a much different group of people. [35:55] Now, I'm not saying we are dealing with them. [36:00] Essentially, they have till 8 o'clock tomorrow night, [36:03] Eastern Time. [36:04] But we are dealing with them. [36:06] I think it's going well. [36:07] Mr. Whitcoff is here, [36:08] and J.D.'s involved in the dealing. [36:11] Mr. Whitcoff is sitting right here, [36:13] and I think it's going fine. [36:14] But we'll have to see. [36:16] You have to understand, [36:16] we've been dealing with these people for 47 years. [36:21] I'm standing here with a much more powerful Iran [36:25] as of a month ago, not anymore. [36:28] Right now, they are decapitated. [36:30] But I'm standing here a month ago [36:32] with a much more powerful Iran [36:34] than it was at any point during 47 years. [36:37] This should have been handled by seven presidents, [36:41] a lot of presidents. [36:42] And those presidents are saying now, [36:45] every one of them, to their friends, [36:47] we should have done this a long time ago. [36:49] So it's not something I like doing. [36:51] It's very dangerous. [36:53] And we're getting them at the height of their strength. [36:56] If I didn't terminate the Barack Hussein Obama-Iran nuclear deal, [37:02] they would have had a... [37:03] Don't forget, that was a path to a nuclear weapon. [37:05] Remember this. [37:05] He chose Iran over Israel, pure and simple. [37:11] How Israel can vote for a Democrat is, [37:15] if you're Jewish in New York City [37:17] or anyplace else in this country, [37:19] and how you can vote for a Democrat is unbelievable. [37:23] Because he chose Iran, a very hostile Iran. [37:28] Remember when he filled up a 757 with cash? [37:31] Billions of dollars of cash. [37:33] And he sent it over to them. [37:34] Then they gave them tens of billions of dollars. [37:38] He chose Iran over Israel. [37:40] And really, the Arab world, if you look. [37:42] Because, you know, the other, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE. [37:47] I mean, you take a look. [37:48] I mean, I can add Kuwait, and I can add Bahrain, [37:51] and you can add others. [37:53] He chose such an unlikely candidate. [37:57] Nobody could believe it. [37:58] Frankly, if you're going to choose between Iraq and Iran, [38:01] he should have chosen, he should have befriended Iraq. [38:05] He went in the exact opposite direction of all thinking. [38:10] And he made a terrible mistake. [38:12] But that was a road to a nuclear weapon. [38:15] And when I terminated that, everyone said, [38:18] oh, he terminated it. [38:19] It was one of the best things we ever did, [38:21] because he had a road to a nuclear weapon. [38:22] And it was a very short-term deal. [38:26] You know, countries don't do 10-year deals. [38:28] Countries do hundreds of years. [38:30] You don't do a 10-year deal. [38:31] For a country, you need – this isn't – you're a landlord, [38:34] you're renting a store on a certain street, [38:37] and you give somebody a 5-year or 10-year lease. [38:39] This is a country. [38:41] It was a short-term deal. [38:42] It was ready to expire. [38:44] I terminated it before it expired. [38:46] It took a lot of heat, and it was one of the best things I ever did, [38:49] because he would have had a nuclear weapon. [38:50] Then he would have had another nuclear weapon, [38:52] had those beautiful B-2 bombers not gone in eight months ago, [38:56] and obliterated that site. [38:58] And by the way, the word is obliteration. [39:01] CNN said, well, maybe it wasn't complete. [39:03] It was so complete that they still haven't been able to get it. [39:06] It was obliteration. [39:07] But if we didn't hit them, that was a courageous decision, too, [39:12] because we had all those planes flying in at night [39:14] with very little cover, unbelievable stealth planes, [39:19] and they were able to do their job. [39:21] If we didn't do that, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon [39:25] at a high level, either one of those two instances. [39:29] And if they did, in my opinion, [39:32] I told this to Bibi Netanyahu yesterday, [39:35] Israel would have been extinguished. [39:38] Large portions of the Middle East would have been extinguished, [39:42] whether it's Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, or others. [39:46] And you saw that with thousands of missiles raining down upon them. [39:50] They didn't think they were going to be hit. [39:51] They thought they'd be watching us fight. [39:53] And all of a sudden, UAE got hit by 1,500 missiles. [39:58] He would have taken them out also. [40:00] And they were powerful. [40:01] If I didn't come along and terminate the Obama deal, [40:06] which was terrible, the Iran nuclear deal, [40:08] was a road to a nuclear weapon, a big one, unlimited, legally. [40:13] I terminated it without even much thought. [40:17] It was so easy. [40:17] I terminated that, and then the B-2 bombers. [40:22] And I did one other thing. [40:23] I had killed Qasem Soleimani, who was an evil genius. [40:31] And the reason I did it, [40:32] I heard he was going to knock out five of our military bases. [40:37] And had he lived, [40:39] I believe we would be fighting perhaps a different Iran right now. [40:45] Because he's never, he's never been replaced, you know. [40:49] And I also, I did one other, but this one was not picked up. [40:53] Osama bin Laden, if you read my book, [40:56] I said you got to take him out one year before the World Trade Center came down. [41:00] So I wish you'd read the book. [41:03] But you, as a president, to be a good president, [41:08] I believe you have to have good instincts. [41:10] And a lot of this is instinct. [41:11] Yeah, please. [41:12] Thank you so much for taking my question to you, Mr. President. [41:15] Mr. President, last week you suggested that Europe should take the lead [41:20] on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. [41:22] Has circumstances changed now that you're issuing a direct 48-hour ultimatum? [41:29] And secondly, would a new ceasefire include Israel, [41:32] or would it just be between Iran and the U.S.? [41:33] I can't talk about ceasefire. [41:35] But I can tell you that we have an active, willing participant on the other side. [41:42] They would like to be able to make a deal. [41:43] I can't say any more than that. [41:44] Thank you, Mr. President, thank you so much. [41:48] You've listed the goals. [41:50] Excuse me. [41:50] Please, go ahead. [41:51] You've listed the goals of having you serve. [41:52] Who are you with? [41:53] Who are you with? [41:54] My name is Diakurda. [41:55] I'm with the largest Kurdish media outlet, Rudow Media Network. [41:57] It's based in Iran. [41:59] Go ahead. [41:59] Mr. President, you said before that you don't want the Kurdish forces to enter Iran and be harmed. [42:06] Do you still want them to stay away? [42:08] Or what role do you expect them to play now? [42:10] I'd rather have them stay away. [42:12] I'd rather have them stay away because I think they bring with them some problems and some difficulties. [42:18] And I don't think they bring death, I mean, you know, to themselves. [42:22] But I'd rather have them stay away. [42:23] Go ahead. [42:28] Thank you, Mr. President, for the question. [42:30] Deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure violate the Geneva Conventions and international law. [42:36] Who are you with? [42:36] I'm with the New York Times. [42:37] Zolan from the New York Times. [42:39] Are you concerned? [42:39] The failing. [42:40] The failing. [42:40] Are you concerned? [42:41] Is there circulation way down at the New York Times? [42:43] Are you concerned that your threat to bomb power plants and bridges amount to war crimes? [42:47] After all, no, no, I'm not. [42:49] I hope I don't have to do it. [42:51] But, again, I just said 47 years they've been negotiating with these people. [42:55] They're great negotiators. [42:57] And because they're not going to have a nuclear weapon. [43:01] And if somebody that takes my place someday is weak and ineffective, which possibly that will happen, [43:07] because we had numerous presidents that were weak, ineffective, and afraid of Iran, [43:13] we're never going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon. [43:17] And if you think it's okay for people that are sick of mind, that are tough, smart, and sick, really sick, [43:26] ideal, you know, from a policy standpoint, from a standpoint, any which way you want to say mentally, [43:34] these are disturbed people. [43:36] If you think I'm going to allow them, and powerful and rich, to have a nuclear weapon, [43:42] you can tell your friends at the New York Times, not going to happen. [43:45] If it means violating international law. [43:50] Quiet, quiet, quiet. [43:51] You no longer have credibility at the New York Times. [43:54] Because the New York Times said, oh, Trump won't win the election, and I won in a landslide. [43:58] I won every swing state. [43:59] New York Times said, oh, Trump won't win the election. [44:02] New York Times has no credibility. [44:04] The credibility they have is, it used to be all the news that's fit to print. [44:08] A great, the old gray lady, it was great. [44:11] But they're running on past fumes, and you can't keep doing that. [44:14] You have to be able to give the correct news. [44:17] And people like you, who I know, are fake. [44:21] You're fake. [44:21] Go ahead, please. [44:22] The Pressure, your messaging on the war has moved from, [44:26] and the war is coming to an end to, we're going to be bombing Iran to the Stone Ages. [44:30] And we've heard a range of those kind of messages. [44:34] So are you, so which is it? [44:35] Are you winding this down? [44:36] I can't tell you. [44:36] Are you escalating it? [44:37] I can't tell you. [44:38] I don't know. [44:39] I can't tell you. [44:39] Depends what they do. [44:40] This is a critical period. [44:42] They have a period of, well, till tomorrow at 8 o'clock. [44:47] I gave them an extension. [44:48] They asked for an extension of seven days, right? [44:51] I said, Steve, give them ten days. [44:56] Ten days is up actually today. [44:58] So I gave them 11, I guess, indirectly. [45:01] I thought it was inappropriate the day after Easter. [45:03] I want to be a nice person. [45:06] They have till tomorrow. [45:08] Now, we'll see what happens. [45:10] I can tell you they're negotiating. [45:12] We think in good faith. [45:14] We're going to find out. [45:14] We're getting the help of some incredible countries that want this to be ended [45:20] because it affects them also. [45:22] A lot of people are affected by this. [45:24] But we're giving them, we're giving them till tomorrow, 8 o'clock Eastern Time. [45:30] And after that, they're going to have no bridges. [45:34] They're going to have no power plants. [45:37] Stone Ages, yeah. [45:39] Stone Ages. [45:40] After the negotiation. [45:43] CNN fake. [45:44] Are you willing to make a deal that does not include reopening the Strait of Hormuz? [45:50] Or is that now a top priority? [45:52] I would say it's a very big priority [45:53] because, you see, that's one thing that's a little different than the other thing. [45:59] We can bomb the hell out of them. [46:01] We can knock them out for a loop. [46:03] But to close the Strait, all you need is one terrorist [46:06] that somehow has a truck loaded with, [46:10] because you can carry them in trucks, large trucks, [46:12] a water mine. [46:14] Drop them in the water. [46:16] And now you tell people that own ships that cost a billion dollars [46:19] to don't worry about the mine. [46:20] You can do that even just by saying we put mines in the water. [46:24] So it's not like the rest. [46:26] We can knock out their military. [46:28] We already have. [46:29] We've knocked out their Navy. [46:30] We've knocked out their Air Force completely. [46:32] We've knocked out 158 ships. [46:34] In three days, we've knocked out even their mine droppers. [46:38] They don't have any mine droppers anymore. [46:40] But they put them on other boats. [46:41] And they could drop them. [46:42] I'm not even sure they have any mines yet, by the way. [46:44] I'm not sure. [46:46] Personally, they say there might be eight. [46:48] I don't know. [46:49] I don't know. [46:49] I think there might be none, [46:51] because they're very good bullshit artists. [46:53] That's why for 47 years, [46:55] they've been bullshitting other presidents, [46:57] and they haven't done the job. [46:59] And people are living in hell. [47:01] You live in that country. [47:03] They're living in hell. [47:03] No, I think that 47 years of this stuff is long enough. [47:11] They're at the weakest point they've ever been. [47:14] They have no Navy. [47:15] They have no Air Force. [47:16] They have no anti-aircraft weaponry. [47:19] They have no radar. [47:20] They have no communication. [47:21] In fact, the biggest problem we have in our negotiation [47:23] is that they can't communicate. [47:26] I said to Steve, what are they saying? [47:28] Sir, they can't communicate. [47:29] They have no method of communication. [47:32] So we're communicating like they used to communicate [47:35] 2,000 years ago with children bringing a note back and forth. [47:39] They have no communication. [47:42] But all I want to see is I want to have a safe world. [47:45] And you're not going to have a safe world. [47:47] Israel will be gone. [47:49] The Middle East will be gone. [47:51] And then they're coming for Europe. [47:53] And I have to tell you, I'm very disappointed in NATO. [47:56] Very. [47:57] I think that NATO, I think it's a mark on NATO [48:00] that will never disappear. [48:02] Never disappear in my mind. [48:03] You know, they're coming to see me on Wednesday. [48:04] They're going to say, oh, we'll do this. [48:06] We'll do that. [48:07] Now they all of a sudden want to send things, you know. [48:10] But they said it loud and clear at the beginning [48:12] when I spoke to UK of all. [48:14] I would have said they would have been the first [48:15] because they've been, they're the oldest. [48:18] And I say, yeah, I'd love to have a little help. [48:20] He said, no, sir, we'd rather wait till you win. [48:23] I said, I don't need help after we win. [48:26] They have two old broken aircraft carriers, barely work. [48:29] I said, I guess we can use them. [48:31] Who the hell knows? [48:31] I called the general. [48:32] He didn't even want to. [48:33] He said, we don't really need them. [48:35] We got, we got the SS Abraham Lincoln, sir. [48:38] We don't need them. [48:39] Do you know, we have, in terms of technology, [48:42] we had one day 101 missiles going at 2,700 miles an hour [48:48] aimed at the Abraham Lincoln. [48:51] 101 missiles. [48:52] Out of 101 missiles, 101 missiles were shot down. [48:58] Unbelievable technology. [49:01] Ten years ago, five years ago, [49:03] I don't know if that would have been possible. [49:05] But ten years ago, that wouldn't have been, [49:07] that wouldn't have been possible. [49:09] 101 missiles heading to a ship [49:12] that's not that far off the coast. [49:17] And out of the 101 missiles, we shot down all 101. [49:21] We have weaponry. [49:22] The patriots are unbelievable. [49:24] We have weaponry. [49:26] That's unbelievable. [49:27] Yeah. [49:28] Go ahead, please. [49:32] Thank you, Mr. President. [49:33] You said earlier today, during the egg roll, [49:36] that you would like to take Iran's oil, [49:39] but Americans want U.S. forces home. [49:41] Correct. [49:42] What's that tradeoff? [49:43] If I had my choice, if I had my choice, yeah. [49:46] Because I'm a businessman first. [49:48] With Venezuela, as you know, [49:51] the war was over in about 45 minutes. [49:54] And we have great people running Venezuela. [49:57] Very good people. [49:58] I mean, the relationship is good. [50:00] And we are a partner with Venezuela. [50:02] And we've taken hundreds of millions of barrels, [50:07] hundreds of millions, [50:08] over 100 million barrels already [50:10] is in Houston, refined and out. [50:15] And paid for that war many, many times over. [50:18] Many times. [50:18] And you know, the old days, [50:20] to the victim, okay? [50:22] Do you know that? [50:23] To the winner belong the spoils. [50:28] Go the spoils. [50:29] And I've said, [50:30] why don't we use it? [50:31] To the victor. [50:32] Go the spoils. [50:33] And we don't have that. [50:34] We haven't had that in this country, [50:36] probably in 100 years, [50:37] because even the Second World War, [50:38] you look at the Second World War. [50:40] We didn't have it with the Second World War. [50:42] We helped rebuild all those countries. [50:44] We rebuilt Germany. [50:45] How about Germany telling us? [50:47] Germany telling us that, [50:48] well, it's not their war. [50:51] We had nothing to do with it. [50:52] They wanted me to go and tell them [50:54] everything I was doing. [50:56] We didn't know anything about it. [50:57] Well, if I would have told them, [50:58] they would have leaked it, [51:00] and we wouldn't have been [51:01] nearly as successful, possibly, right? [51:03] But to the victor belong the spoils. [51:06] So we haven't heard that [51:08] in, I think, maybe hundreds of years. [51:12] Now, with Venezuela, [51:14] and just so you understand, [51:15] the people of Venezuela, [51:16] they say if I ran for president of Venezuela, [51:20] I'm polling higher than anybody [51:21] has ever polled in Venezuela. [51:23] So after I'm finished with this, [51:25] I can go to Venezuela. [51:26] I will quickly learn Spanish. [51:27] It won't take too long. [51:29] I'm good at language. [51:30] And I will go to Venezuela. [51:31] I'm going to run for president. [51:33] But we're very happy [51:34] with the president-elect [51:35] that we have right now, [51:36] the people that are running it. [51:40] If you remember Bush with Iraq, [51:43] they fired the generals. [51:44] They fired the police. [51:45] They fired the people [51:46] that worked in there, [51:47] equivalent of the White House. [51:49] They fired everybody. [51:50] And you know what they had? [51:51] They had a mess. [51:52] And you know what happened? [51:53] ISIS formed. [51:55] Those generals and those soldiers [51:56] got together. [51:57] The police got together. [51:58] They all got together. [51:59] They formed ISIS. [52:00] Not going to happen with us. [52:02] So Venezuela has been an incredible, [52:05] it's been an incredible situation. [52:07] We went in. [52:08] We were very successful. [52:10] Military power [52:11] like nobody's ever seen. [52:12] The general, [52:13] Venezuelan general, [52:15] said I was on that site. [52:16] I said I've never seen [52:17] ferocity like that. [52:19] I've been doing this for 40 years. [52:21] He said I've never seen it. [52:22] They hit us from 17 different, [52:24] it was, [52:25] they were all set. [52:27] They saw that big, [52:28] beautiful aircraft carrier, [52:29] the Ford in that case. [52:31] And planes were pouring off it [52:33] at one o'clock in the morning. [52:35] So typically when you see that [52:36] late at night, [52:38] you know, [52:39] you could be in trouble. [52:40] Right? [52:41] And we were all ready. [52:43] They had their equipment. [52:45] It was Russian. [52:46] And they had Chinese equipment. [52:47] It was all set. [52:48] They were going to give us a fight. [52:50] He said, [52:51] and then they came. [52:52] And they came at speeds [52:53] like we've never seen. [52:55] And they came at 17 different angles. [52:58] The general and his people, [53:00] that was a lot of angles. [53:01] They hit him from every angle. [53:02] He said, [53:04] we knew it was over [53:05] in three minutes. [53:07] We were waiting for him. [53:09] Their equipment didn't work. [53:11] And there's a reason it didn't work. [53:12] Someday we'll explain that to people. [53:14] They pressed the button. [53:16] Nothing happened. [53:17] They pressed it again and again. [53:18] Nothing happened. [53:20] And he said, [53:21] we knew this whole thing was over [53:22] in three minutes. [53:23] We've never seen any, [53:24] he used the word ferocity, [53:27] the ferocity of these planes [53:28] from 17 different angles. [53:30] And it was over. [53:31] They went inside. [53:32] And remember, [53:33] that was on a military base [53:34] with thousands of soldiers. [53:36] And those soldiers looked [53:37] and they said, [53:38] get the hell out of here. [53:40] Thousands. [53:41] We didn't have thousands. [53:42] We had like 200 people. [53:44] So we have a great military. [53:47] And I'll tell you what, [53:48] somehow this rescue [53:50] captured the world's attention. [53:52] More so than normally. [53:54] You're talking about two people. [53:56] But this rescue [53:57] captured the world's attention. [54:00] But we did it in Venezuela. [54:01] That was amazing. [54:03] And now we have a very bad man [54:05] in prison and going to trial. [54:06] I mean, he released, [54:09] aside from the drugs, [54:10] which he was terrible, [54:12] Maduro released hundreds [54:14] of thousands of people [54:15] from jails into our country. [54:18] Drug dealers, murderers, [54:20] the worst people in the world [54:21] were released into our country [54:23] because we had a stupid president [54:25] who probably didn't know. [54:27] And we had a border czar [54:28] who never went to the border [54:29] and never once called [54:31] our great border patrol agents, right? [54:33] Not once, Kamala. [54:35] She never called the border patrol. [54:36] She never said, [54:37] how are we doing? [54:37] I used to call the border patrol guys [54:39] every day. [54:39] You can ask them. [54:40] Paul, ask any one of them. [54:42] Brandon, ask them all the time. [54:45] How are we doing? [54:45] How are we doing? [54:46] And we now, I'm proud to say, [54:48] have a totally sealed border. [54:49] Nine months, [54:50] nobody is coming through our border. [54:51] And nobody even tries [54:52] because they know [54:52] they're not going to get through. [54:53] So we don't have caravans anymore. [54:55] So maybe one or two more [54:58] and we'll be done. [54:59] Mr. President, [55:02] are you allowed to, [55:03] are you willing to end this conflict [55:05] with Iran charging tolls [55:07] for passage through the street? [55:10] Us charging tolls? [55:11] Iran. [55:12] What about us charging tolls? [55:14] Is that something you're considering? [55:15] I'd rather do that [55:16] than let them have them run. [55:18] Why shouldn't we? [55:18] We're the winner. [55:20] We won, okay? [55:22] They are militarily defeated. [55:24] The only thing they have [55:25] is the psychology of, [55:26] oh, we're going to drop [55:27] a couple of mines in the water. [55:29] All right. [55:30] No, we, I mean, [55:31] we have a concept [55:31] where we'll charge tolls. [55:33] Okay? [55:34] I thought you meant us. [55:36] Your question, [55:37] your question would have, [55:38] your question would have been [55:39] more accurate if you said us. [55:41] Go ahead. [55:41] Thank you very much. [55:42] Just to clarify, [55:44] in order for Iran [55:45] to successfully meet [55:46] your deadline tomorrow, [55:47] do they have to make a deal, [55:49] open the street, or both? [55:51] We have to have a deal [55:52] that's acceptable to me. [55:54] And part of that deal [55:55] is going to be [55:56] we want free traffic of oil [55:58] and everything else. [55:59] Thank you very much. [56:05] You've said glory be to God [56:06] in this conflict. [56:08] Do you believe that God [56:09] supports the United States [56:10] actions in this world? [56:11] I do, because God is good. [56:13] Because God is good [56:14] and God wants to see people [56:16] taken care of. [56:18] God doesn't like what's happening. [56:20] I don't like what's happening. [56:21] Everyone says, [56:22] I enjoy it. [56:22] I don't enjoy this. [56:23] I don't enjoy it. [56:24] These two guys don't enjoy it. [56:25] You know, people say, [56:26] oh, boy, they're so tough. [56:28] They don't want, [56:28] they don't like, [56:28] I don't like seeing people killed. [56:31] I've ended eight wars. [56:33] Nobody's ever done it. [56:35] The person who won the Nobel Prize [56:37] came to me and said, [56:38] you deserve the Nobel Prize. [56:40] She announced that. [56:40] When they announced, [56:41] they said, [56:43] goes to Maria. [56:43] She's a great person, [56:45] really a good person. [56:46] She said, [56:47] no, no, no. [56:48] This is ridiculous. [56:50] They gave me the Nobel Prize. [56:52] President Trump ended eight wars. [56:54] I could go over every one of them, [56:55] including India and Pakistan, [56:57] where the Prime Minister of Pakistan [56:59] said, [56:59] President Trump saved [57:01] from 30 to 50 million lives. [57:04] That makes me much happier [57:06] than what we're doing right now. [57:08] That makes me much happier. [57:10] We have one more to end, [57:11] by the way. [57:11] President, [57:17] you called the, [57:18] yesterday in your Truth Social, [57:19] you called the Iranians [57:20] crazy bastards. [57:22] True. [57:22] What is your response [57:24] to critics who say that it is? [57:26] I don't care about critics. [57:27] What is your response [57:27] to critics who say [57:28] that it is your mental health [57:29] that should perhaps be examined [57:30] as this war continues? [57:32] I haven't heard that. [57:33] But if that's the case, [57:34] you're going to have to have [57:34] more people like me [57:35] because our country [57:37] was being ripped off [57:38] on trade, [57:39] on everything, [57:41] for many years [57:42] until I came along. [57:43] So if that's the case, [57:44] you're going to have [57:45] to have more people. [57:46] Dasha, go. [57:47] Dasha, go. [57:48] You said that very little [57:49] is off limits in Iran [57:50] as far as targeting, [57:52] including power plants, [57:53] as bridges. [57:54] You've mentioned those. [57:54] Very little is off limits. [57:55] Are there certain kinds [57:56] of civilian targets, [57:58] though? [57:58] I'm thinking schools [57:59] or hospitals that you want [58:00] to take off? [58:00] I don't want to tell you that. [58:01] I don't want to tell you that. [58:03] We have a plan [58:04] because of the power [58:06] of our military [58:06] where every bridge [58:08] in Iran [58:10] will be decimated [58:11] by 12 o'clock [58:13] tomorrow night, [58:15] where every power plant [58:16] in Iran [58:17] will be out of business, [58:20] burning, [58:20] exploding, [58:21] and never to be used again. [58:23] I mean, [58:23] complete demolition [58:25] by 12 o'clock, [58:26] and it'll happen [58:27] over a period of four hours [58:28] if we wanted to. [58:30] We don't want that to happen. [58:32] We may even get involved [58:33] with helping them [58:34] rebuild their nation. [58:36] And you know what? [58:37] If that's the case, [58:38] the last thing we want to do [58:39] is start with power plants, [58:40] which are among [58:41] the most expensive things, [58:42] and bridges. [58:43] You saw the bridge. [58:44] The bridge one. [58:45] We were very close [58:46] to a deal. [58:48] And then I got a call [58:49] from Mr. Witkoff, [58:52] Mr. Kushner, [58:53] and J.D. [58:55] saying, [58:56] I think they're [58:57] breaking the deal. [58:58] I said, [58:59] tell them that's okay. [59:00] Don't worry about it. [59:01] But tell them [59:02] to look out their window [59:03] and watch. [59:04] And within 45 minutes, [59:06] I gave the order [59:07] to knock out [59:08] the biggest bridge. [59:09] I gave the order [59:10] to knock out [59:11] the biggest bridge [59:12] in, [59:12] I believe, [59:13] the Middle East, [59:14] but the biggest bridge [59:14] in Iran. [59:16] And within 10 minutes [59:18] after I gave that order, [59:19] that bridge was over. [59:22] So, [59:22] do I want to do that? [59:25] No. [59:25] Do I want to destroy [59:26] their infrastructure? [59:27] No. [59:28] It will take them [59:29] 100 years to rebuild. [59:31] Right now, [59:32] if we left today, [59:34] it would take them [59:35] 20 years [59:36] to rebuild their country, [59:37] and it would never [59:38] be as good as it was. [59:39] And the only way [59:40] they're going to be able [59:40] to rebuild their country [59:42] is to utilize the genius [59:43] of the United States [59:44] of America. [59:45] I've voiced your displeasure [59:50] with NATO in the past. [59:52] Is there a danger [59:53] to the U.S. [59:53] not being the de facto [59:55] of the leader [59:56] of the alliance [59:56] and then other powers [59:58] within the alliance [59:59] than getting the decision-making [1:00:00] when it comes to wars [1:00:02] and nuclear weapons? [1:00:03] No, it's not a danger. [1:00:04] NATO's, look, [1:00:05] we went to NATO. [1:00:07] I didn't ask very strongly. [1:00:08] I just said, [1:00:09] hey, if you want to help, [1:00:10] great. [1:00:10] No, no, no, [1:00:11] we will not help. [1:00:12] I said, that's all right. [1:00:13] You don't want to help? [1:00:14] Because I've always said [1:00:15] NATO's a paper tiger. [1:00:17] See, [1:00:18] NATO's a paper tiger. [1:00:20] Putin's not afraid of NATO. [1:00:21] Putin's afraid of us, [1:00:22] very afraid of us. [1:00:24] And he's explained it to me [1:00:25] a lot of times. [1:00:26] I got to know him very well. [1:00:28] I know him very well. [1:00:30] NATO's a paper tiger. [1:00:31] NATO is us. [1:00:33] And when we needed them, [1:00:34] but we didn't need them, [1:00:35] by the way. [1:00:36] We didn't need them, [1:00:37] obviously, [1:00:38] because they haven't helped [1:00:39] at all. [1:00:39] Just the opposite. [1:00:40] They've actually gone out [1:00:41] of their way not to help. [1:00:43] They didn't even want [1:00:43] to give us landing strips. [1:00:45] He's great. [1:00:46] And Pete, [1:00:47] all I can say is that [1:00:48] he was treated very unfairly. [1:00:51] And now those same people [1:00:52] that treated him unfairly, [1:00:54] that fought against him, [1:00:55] they called me up saying, [1:00:56] what a great choice he was. [1:00:58] I said, [1:00:58] well, [1:00:59] what happened during [1:01:00] this nomination? [1:01:01] What happened to you? [1:01:02] I'm telling you, [1:01:03] people that were not [1:01:04] forum senators, [1:01:06] friends of mine, [1:01:06] sir, [1:01:07] I don't think you're [1:01:07] doing the right thing. [1:01:09] Now they're calling me up. [1:01:10] What a choice. [1:01:11] These two guys are fantastic. [1:01:13] And John Ratcliffe [1:01:14] was incredible. [1:01:15] It was actually their genius [1:01:17] that called us from, [1:01:21] he was 40 miles away. [1:01:23] And he said, [1:01:23] you know, [1:01:24] we're seeing something [1:01:24] moving up in the mountain. [1:01:26] This is at night. [1:01:28] And they kept the camera [1:01:29] on him for 45 minutes. [1:01:31] He wasn't moving. [1:01:32] And they said, [1:01:32] you know, [1:01:33] probably wrong, [1:01:34] but we're seeing [1:01:35] something moving. [1:01:36] This is a vast mountain, [1:01:39] vast, thick, [1:01:41] with bushes, trees. [1:01:43] He said, [1:01:43] we see something moving, [1:01:45] 40 miles away. [1:01:47] It was the head [1:01:49] of a human being, [1:01:49] I'm telling you, [1:01:50] it's moving. [1:01:52] And then all of a sudden, [1:01:53] 45 minutes later, [1:01:54] he moved a lot. [1:01:57] Stood up, [1:01:58] and they said, [1:01:58] we have him. [1:01:59] And that was really [1:02:00] the beginning [1:02:02] of something incredible. [1:02:03] We had an idea [1:02:04] where he was, [1:02:05] but not specifically. [1:02:06] That's a big mountain. [1:02:08] So I want to thank [1:02:11] the CIA, too. [1:02:12] I don't think [1:02:12] they get enough credit [1:02:13] for the great job [1:02:14] they've done. [1:02:15] Yes, please. [1:02:16] Thank you very much, [1:02:18] Mr. President, [1:02:19] for this great opportunity. [1:02:22] Country it has, [1:02:24] super army. [1:02:25] You make a difference, [1:02:26] Mr. President. [1:02:27] Thank you for [1:02:28] your greatest leadership. [1:02:30] Thank you. [1:02:30] I have two quick questions, [1:02:31] Mr. President. [1:02:33] What was your reaction [1:02:35] when you learned [1:02:36] that Kurdistan region [1:02:37] had resumed exporting oil [1:02:40] to the international market [1:02:42] with your support [1:02:44] as United States of America? [1:02:46] Well, I expected that. [1:02:47] We've gotten along [1:02:48] with the Kurds [1:02:49] for a long time. [1:02:50] So I expected that. [1:02:52] Another question. [1:02:54] What would be your reaction [1:02:57] if the Iranian people [1:02:59] rise up against their regime [1:03:02] during a case fire, [1:03:04] Mr. President? [1:03:04] Well, they should do it. [1:03:06] But, again, [1:03:06] the consequences are great. [1:03:08] I mean, they were told [1:03:09] if you protest, [1:03:10] you will be shot immediately. [1:03:12] You saw what happened [1:03:13] to the young wrestler. [1:03:15] He was a great champion, [1:03:16] by the way. [1:03:16] He was a great wrestler, [1:03:17] one of the top in the world. [1:03:19] And he and his two friends [1:03:20] were hung. [1:03:22] And all they did [1:03:24] was say a little bit [1:03:25] about liberty. [1:03:26] They wanted liberty, [1:03:26] and they were violently executed. [1:03:30] But the number is up to [1:03:31] probably 45,000 people were killed. [1:03:34] So, you know, [1:03:35] when somebody stays in a house, [1:03:36] when they know [1:03:37] if they walk out of the house [1:03:38] to protest, [1:03:38] they'll be immediately shot [1:03:39] and killed. [1:03:41] And they issued that. [1:03:43] You know, [1:03:43] that was publicly issued. [1:03:44] It's not a secret. [1:03:46] That's why so many people say, [1:03:47] oh, well, [1:03:47] why are you doing this way? [1:03:48] We can't let Iran [1:03:50] have a nuclear weapon. [1:03:52] You know, [1:03:52] we got regime change. [1:03:54] We do. [1:03:55] We're dealing with [1:03:55] a much different regime [1:03:56] than before. [1:03:57] We're dealing with [1:03:58] different people. [1:03:59] They're smarter. [1:04:00] I think they're sharper [1:04:02] and far less radical. [1:04:06] We have regime change, [1:04:07] but we didn't do this [1:04:09] for regime change. [1:04:10] We did it for the fact, [1:04:12] and my view was very simple. [1:04:14] I saw somebody who said, [1:04:15] oh, he doesn't have a plan. [1:04:16] I have the best plan of all, [1:04:17] but I'm not going to tell you [1:04:18] what my plan is. [1:04:19] You know, [1:04:19] they want me to say, [1:04:21] here's my plan. [1:04:22] We're going to attack [1:04:22] at 9.47 in the morning, [1:04:24] and then we're going to do this, [1:04:25] and then we're going to... [1:04:26] And if you don't do that, [1:04:27] they say, [1:04:28] I have a plan. [1:04:29] These people know [1:04:30] what the plan is. [1:04:30] Everybody here knows [1:04:31] what the plan is. [1:04:33] But it's very unfair to say, [1:04:36] because I don't mind [1:04:37] being insulted. [1:04:38] I've been insulted [1:04:38] for many years [1:04:39] by the fake news, [1:04:41] but you can't... [1:04:43] It's so bad [1:04:43] for the people [1:04:45] that are so... [1:04:46] You just saw two great [1:04:48] and John Ratcliffe, [1:04:49] three unbelievable people. [1:04:50] They have a plan. [1:04:51] Every single thing [1:04:53] has been thought out [1:04:54] by all of us. [1:04:55] But I can't reveal [1:04:57] the plan to the media. [1:04:58] So, you know... [1:05:00] But we're just thrilled [1:05:01] by the success [1:05:02] of this operation. [1:05:03] Yes, please. [1:05:03] Thank you, Mr. President. [1:05:04] You've said Iranians would be mad [1:05:06] if you stopped these attacks. [1:05:08] But why would they want you [1:05:09] to blow up their infrastructure, [1:05:10] to cut off their power? [1:05:12] Wouldn't that be punishing Iranians [1:05:14] for the actions of the regime? [1:05:15] They would be willing to... [1:05:16] They would be willing... [1:05:17] And it's suffering. [1:05:18] They would be willing to suffer that [1:05:20] in order to have freedom. [1:05:22] The Iranians have... [1:05:23] And we've had numerous intercepts. [1:05:27] Please keep bombing. [1:05:28] Bombs that are dropping [1:05:29] near their homes. [1:05:31] Please keep bombing. [1:05:33] Do it. [1:05:34] And these are people [1:05:35] that are living [1:05:35] where the bombs are exploding. [1:05:37] And when we leave [1:05:38] and we're not hitting those areas, [1:05:41] they're saying, [1:05:41] please come back, [1:05:42] come back, come back. [1:05:43] These are the people. [1:05:46] I don't know what they do. [1:05:47] All I can tell you [1:05:48] is they want freedom. [1:05:50] They have lived in a world [1:05:52] that you know nothing about. [1:05:54] It's a violent, horrible world [1:05:56] where if you protest, [1:05:58] you are shot. [1:05:59] Remember the great woman protest [1:06:01] where they had 400,000, [1:06:02] 500,000 women [1:06:03] and they were all enthused [1:06:05] and they were going to protest [1:06:06] and everybody said, [1:06:08] oh, the regime's going to come to an end. [1:06:09] And then all of a sudden, [1:06:12] boom, boom, [1:06:14] five, six different areas, [1:06:18] a woman would go down [1:06:19] right between the eyes. [1:06:20] They had snipers. [1:06:21] They had five snipers. [1:06:22] That's all it took. [1:06:22] And those four or 500,000 [1:06:26] women said, [1:06:27] oh, my God, what's that? [1:06:29] Oh, look over there. [1:06:30] What's that? [1:06:31] A woman shot right [1:06:32] between the eyes. [1:06:34] And after five or six of them go down, [1:06:37] then you start hearing the purr [1:06:39] through the vast number of people. [1:06:44] And then they said, [1:06:45] oh, my God, [1:06:45] who would do that? [1:06:47] And they're incredible people. [1:06:50] But they've lived so horribly. [1:06:51] They've lived so horribly. [1:06:53] You know, Iran was a great country [1:06:54] if you go back 25 years ago or so. [1:06:58] The Persian people, [1:07:00] they're incredible, smart, [1:07:01] brilliant, actually. [1:07:03] And I know so many. [1:07:04] I know coming from New York, [1:07:06] originally I know so many people from Iran. [1:07:08] They're incredible people, [1:07:10] incredible energy [1:07:11] and very, very brilliant people. [1:07:14] And but when you're standing [1:07:16] in a group and protesting [1:07:17] and you have a woman [1:07:18] in the case of the woman, [1:07:19] remember the great woman march. [1:07:21] Everybody was like, [1:07:21] oh, this is the end of the country. [1:07:23] And then snipers selectively picked. [1:07:27] Every single one was shot [1:07:29] right between the eyes [1:07:30] from a long distance. [1:07:31] They were on top of buildings. [1:07:34] Nobody even knew where they were, [1:07:35] where they're coming from. [1:07:36] This wasn't like a machine gun, [1:07:37] which is also very bad. [1:07:38] They've done that, too. [1:07:39] They did that recently. [1:07:41] This was snipers [1:07:43] sitting on the top of buildings, [1:07:46] aiming and hitting women. [1:07:47] And when they see people go down [1:07:49] and all of a sudden [1:07:50] there's a riot [1:07:51] in the reverse direction [1:07:53] and they never came out again. [1:07:55] And a lot of the news [1:07:57] doesn't talk about that. [1:07:58] They talk about, [1:07:59] oh, women's rights. [1:08:00] You want to see women's rights? [1:08:02] You're not going to see it there. [1:08:03] It's amazing when I see [1:08:04] some of the stupid people [1:08:06] like, you know, [1:08:06] AOC plus three, [1:08:08] all that group. [1:08:08] They talk about, [1:08:09] oh, freedom for Iran. [1:08:12] They don't tell you the real facts. [1:08:14] Women, men, gays. [1:08:18] How about gays for Iran? [1:08:21] They kill the gays. [1:08:22] They throw them off buildings. [1:08:23] So I wonder what's going on. [1:08:26] I can only say this. [1:08:28] They want us to keep bombing, [1:08:30] even if it jeopardizes [1:08:32] because their life [1:08:33] is in much greater danger. [1:08:34] They want freedom for Iran, [1:08:36] but it's very hard [1:08:37] for them to protest. [1:08:37] I actually tell them, [1:08:38] I said, don't go out. [1:08:39] I fully understand. [1:08:41] Nobody in this room would go out. [1:08:42] I don't think there's any, [1:08:43] because frankly, [1:08:44] it's not a question of bravery. [1:08:45] We're all brave, right? [1:08:46] You're brave. [1:08:47] I'm brave. [1:08:47] We're all brave. [1:08:48] But we're also intelligent. [1:08:51] If you have people shooting at you, [1:08:54] expert shots, [1:08:55] with the best rifles you can get, [1:08:58] and hitting you right between the eyes [1:09:00] every single time, [1:09:01] and you're looking here, [1:09:02] and you're seeing, [1:09:03] and you're looking here, [1:09:04] you're out of there. [1:09:05] I don't care who. [1:09:06] Mark Meredith, Fox News. [1:09:09] I know that. [1:09:10] Oh, thank you. [1:09:11] Go ahead. [1:09:12] America's watching. [1:09:13] No. [1:09:14] Good job. [1:09:15] Can we go back to the weekend? [1:09:16] First off, [1:09:17] was everyone on board [1:09:18] with the operation, [1:09:19] or were there people [1:09:20] that were trying to talk you out [1:09:21] of going through [1:09:21] with the operation this weekend? [1:09:22] Not everybody was on board. [1:09:24] Somebody else within you? [1:09:25] No, there was military people, [1:09:27] very professional, [1:09:28] that preferred not doing it. [1:09:30] These two were totally on board, [1:09:32] which was very important. [1:09:34] They weren't. [1:09:35] It would have had a little difficulty. [1:09:37] But, no, [1:09:38] there were military people [1:09:39] that said, [1:09:39] you just don't do this. [1:09:40] You don't go into the heart [1:09:42] of a very powerful military. [1:09:45] You know, this is, [1:09:46] hey, you have countries and countries. [1:09:47] You have some countries [1:09:48] where military is not their sarong suit. [1:09:51] This whole thing is militarized [1:09:53] like nobody's ever seen before. [1:09:54] Half the people are wearing uniforms. [1:09:58] And we had people within the military. [1:10:01] Usually, it's not done. [1:10:03] That's one of the reasons. [1:10:04] You know, I was surprised. [1:10:04] Somebody said, [1:10:05] it's the only time [1:10:06] it's ever been done. [1:10:07] I said, that's not possible. [1:10:08] But it is possible [1:10:09] because you're going into [1:10:11] hundreds of thousands of soldiers [1:10:13] along the path. [1:10:15] I mean, look at some of the helicopters, [1:10:17] how they got hit. [1:10:19] So, yeah, [1:10:20] there were people within the military [1:10:21] that said it's a wise... [1:10:23] And don't forget, [1:10:23] how many men did you send [1:10:25] all together, approximately, [1:10:26] for the operation? [1:10:28] I'd love to keep that a secret, [1:10:29] Mr. President. [1:10:30] Okay, well, we are. [1:10:30] But I will tell you, [1:10:33] the number, [1:10:35] I'll keep it a secret, [1:10:36] but it was hundreds. [1:10:38] And hundreds of these people... [1:10:39] That's pretty good. [1:10:41] Is he central casting? [1:10:43] But hundreds of people [1:10:45] went into this journey. [1:10:47] Hundreds of people [1:10:48] could have been killed. [1:10:49] Forget about the equipment. [1:10:50] A lot of equipment. [1:10:51] Nobody cares. [1:10:52] Hundreds of people [1:10:53] could have been killed. [1:10:55] So we had people [1:10:56] that were within the military [1:10:57] that said, [1:10:58] this is not a wise... [1:10:59] And I understood that. [1:11:00] But I decided to do it. [1:11:01] Was there a point [1:11:02] that they were going to... [1:11:03] That you were thinking, [1:11:05] there's too much on the line [1:11:07] and somebody was saying, [1:11:08] maybe we abort this now [1:11:09] and wait? [1:11:10] I mean, given the resources, [1:11:11] like the general said, [1:11:12] it seemed like there was [1:11:13] so much on the line here. [1:11:14] You must have been thinking, [1:11:15] this could have completely changed [1:11:16] the next three years. [1:11:17] So the first one, [1:11:18] which was in many ways [1:11:20] as dangerous as the second, [1:11:22] I guess it gets, [1:11:23] because we're flying over daylight. [1:11:26] You know, [1:11:26] we're the best at the world [1:11:27] at night. [1:11:28] We have goggles that nobody... [1:11:29] We have goggles. [1:11:30] I've tried them. [1:11:31] I'm unbelievable. [1:11:32] I see better with the goggles [1:11:33] at night than I see [1:11:35] without them during daylight. [1:11:37] I mean, daylight today, [1:11:38] we have a beautiful day. [1:11:39] You see just as well [1:11:41] with goggles. [1:11:42] In many ways, [1:11:43] it's enhanced. [1:11:44] So we have the best [1:11:45] in the world. [1:11:46] So it's much safer [1:11:47] for us to do it at night, [1:11:49] whereas other people, [1:11:51] no other country [1:11:51] has that capability. [1:11:53] They don't have the... [1:11:53] They don't have that particular [1:11:54] piece of equipment [1:11:55] like we do. [1:11:56] But when I was told, [1:12:00] flying... [1:12:00] And in daylight, [1:12:01] I think we flew seven hours [1:12:03] over Iran, [1:12:04] and that's a long time, [1:12:05] over unbelievably hostile territory [1:12:08] where they have nothing but weapons. [1:12:11] We took out their anti-aircraft, [1:12:12] which is great. [1:12:13] We took out their radar, [1:12:15] which is great. [1:12:15] We took out a lot, [1:12:16] but they still have... [1:12:17] You know, [1:12:17] what hit this one [1:12:18] was a shoulder, [1:12:20] handheld shoulder missile, [1:12:22] heat-seeking missile. [1:12:23] So it's not like, you know, [1:12:24] they're totally whatever. [1:12:26] And they had probably a little luck, [1:12:30] because you've got to get lucky. [1:12:32] But they shot it, [1:12:33] and it got sucked in [1:12:34] right by the engine. [1:12:35] But these guys were out of there. [1:12:36] They were great. [1:12:37] Their timing was great. [1:12:39] But, no, [1:12:39] I was told [1:12:40] that this is a very dangerous mission. [1:12:43] I understand. [1:12:43] They didn't say, [1:12:44] it's a foolish mission. [1:12:45] They said, [1:12:46] you know, [1:12:46] we're going to be sacrificing... [1:12:48] Hundreds of people do this. [1:12:49] This is... [1:12:50] I mean, [1:12:51] you have tankers [1:12:51] that are flying over this area [1:12:53] so that they could... [1:12:54] The flight was so long, [1:12:55] they had to refuel. [1:12:56] It's a very dangerous mission. [1:12:59] I just felt it was worth it. [1:13:00] If you would have told me [1:13:01] that we would have been successful, [1:13:03] gotten both, [1:13:04] and nobody was even, [1:13:05] essentially, injured, [1:13:07] I would have said [1:13:08] that would be impossible. [1:13:09] Yeah, please. [1:13:09] The Press. [1:13:09] Mr. President, [1:13:10] thank you very much. [1:13:11] Thank you, sir. [1:13:12] Mr. Well, I'll come back to you. [1:13:13] Okay, thank you. [1:13:13] The Press. [1:13:14] Given that you are now dealing, [1:13:16] you say, [1:13:16] with a more reasonable, [1:13:17] less extreme leadership in Iran, [1:13:21] what does that mean [1:13:22] for the protesters [1:13:23] for the human rights movement [1:13:24] in that country [1:13:25] after this conflict? [1:13:26] What's your expectation? [1:13:27] Yeah, if they assume control, [1:13:30] if we do something [1:13:31] and they assume control, [1:13:32] I think it's very positive. [1:13:33] A big step. [1:13:34] I don't think you'd see [1:13:35] the radicalization [1:13:36] that you have seen in the last... [1:13:39] Look what happened. [1:13:39] I mean, women are being executed [1:13:41] because they're not properly clothed, [1:13:44] they say. [1:13:45] They're not properly clothed, [1:13:46] and they execute the women. [1:13:47] They absolutely... [1:13:48] They shoot them right on the street. [1:13:51] No, [1:13:52] you have a much different group of people. [1:13:54] Now, I'm not saying...