Trump issues BOLD warning to adversary if it helps Iran

[0:00] In just a few hours, the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz goes into effect. [0:04] Meanwhile, President Trump making it clear to another adversary, China, [0:09] about the consequences if they play ball with Iran. [0:13] I hear news reports about China giving the shoulder missiles, [0:16] what's called a shoulder missile, anti-aircraft missile. [0:20] I doubt they would do that because I have a relationship, [0:23] and I think they wouldn't do that, but maybe they did a little bit at the beginning, [0:26] but I don't think they would anymore. [0:28] No, but if we catch them doing that, they get a 50% tariff. [0:31] Which is a staggering, that's a staggering amount. [0:35] Here we go again. [0:36] Senate Intel Committee Chair Tom Cotton joins us now. [0:38] Senator, you saw that over the weekend, [0:40] that China evidently is going to give a missile defense system, possibly, [0:44] and shoulder man pads over to China. [0:47] The President took action, it seems, directly. [0:50] That's not going to fly. [0:51] Yeah, Brian, I can't confirm or deny that specific report, [0:55] as the President didn't either. [0:56] But obviously, we would not tolerate such behavior from the Chinese, [1:00] and I'm confident, as the President said, they understand that, [1:04] and that senior officials have made that clear to Chinese counterparts. [1:07] China really needs to engage here on Iran, a terrorist state, [1:12] trying to close the Strait of Hormuz, [1:14] because China gets the lion's share of the oil coming out of the Middle East. [1:18] Now that we've imposed a blockade on the Strait, [1:21] on all ships, if all ships don't get out, [1:24] China is really the one that's going to face the brunt of the pain. [1:29] And that means China sends a tanker in, [1:32] they're going to be told, turn around, you can wait here, [1:35] but you're not going forward. [1:36] This is a stare down. [1:37] Yeah, it's really akin to what we've done with Venezuela [1:40] for several months. [1:43] The President's point is very simple to Iran. [1:46] Either all ships come out or no ships come out. [1:49] And the United States military can easily impose those conditions on the Strait. [1:54] And remember, that's where Iran gets the vast majority of its revenue [1:58] and how it supports its military and its terrorist proxies throughout the region. [2:03] So this puts them now not just in a military vice, [2:05] but in an economic vice as well. [2:07] With the progress we're making, [2:09] do you think on some level the administration regrets the ceasefire? [2:12] No, I don't think so. [2:14] I think the President has bent over backwards now, [2:17] going back nine years, [2:19] trying to allow Iran to take very simple, very easy steps [2:23] of turning over their nuclear materials, [2:26] shutting down their nuclear infrastructure, [2:28] stopping their support for terrorism. [2:30] These are not onerous demands. [2:32] These are something we expect from any civilized nation. [2:34] And the President's going to continue to try to find a way [2:37] to meet those demands, [2:38] but he's going to keep the military and economic pressure on Iran until they do. [2:41] They've got about 100 launchers left, [2:43] so they're hiding them, [2:44] and about 1,000 ballistic missiles left. [2:47] With this mosaic defense that they have, [2:50] evidently when Saddam Hussein was taken out in 26 days, [2:53] they said he had so much power, [2:54] you can decapitate a regime. [2:56] They didn't want to be decapitated. [2:57] Take out the Ayatollah, [2:58] they have 32 provinces running their own war. [3:02] Is it possible they don't know how bad things are? [3:05] Because they have their own 32 separate supply chains? [3:08] They have very little communication? [3:10] They know how bad things are and they know the risk. [3:13] It is true that it is hard for Iran's leaders to communicate. [3:17] As Pete Hegseth said a couple weeks ago, [3:19] they can't, not only can they not command and control, [3:22] they can barely communicate. [3:23] They're afraid that if they turn on their phones, [3:25] that they may get a bomb dropped on their head. [3:27] That said, every military line of effort in this campaign [3:32] is either on time or ahead of schedule. [3:34] There are missiles, missile launchers, the drones, the Navy, the Air Force. [3:38] That's the consistent message I hear [3:40] from my conversations with senior administration officials [3:43] and from the briefings and the hearings that we get in Congress. [3:45] So, the Wall Street Journal today has a report [3:49] that we're looking to take some limited action during the ceasefire. [3:51] If so, what kind of action do you think that we need to take [3:55] that wouldn't last another week? [3:57] Well, if Iran follows through on its threat this morning [4:00] to target ports in the region for our friends [4:02] in places like Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates... [4:05] Including the Red Sea. [4:06] Obviously, we're not just going to sit back idly [4:09] and let that happen. [4:11] We're going to re-engage, re-engage in part [4:14] to help protect our troops and our ships in the region [4:16] and help protect our friends as well. [4:18] Stockpiles. [4:18] Are you concerned about our stockpiles [4:20] from interceptors to munitions? [4:22] We heard about shortages during the Biden years [4:24] during with supplying Ukraine. [4:27] I've been concerned about this for years [4:28] and I've worked on it for a long time in Congress. [4:30] It's getting better under the Trump administration. [4:33] Pete Hexeth and the Deputy Secretary, Steve Feinberg, [4:35] are working very hard to accelerate production [4:38] of these interceptors and missiles [4:40] in places where they're made, like Camden, Arkansas. [4:43] So it's improving, but we still have a lot to do to gain. [4:46] I'm not concerned about what it means [4:48] for the conduct of this operation. [4:50] I'm more concerned about what it means for the future. [4:52] That's why we have to do more faster. [4:53] Would you like to see another round of talks [4:55] that lasted 21 hours and didn't yield any results? [4:59] Until Iran shows that it's serious [5:01] about these very simple demands [5:03] like turning over its nuclear materials, [5:05] no longer supporting terrorism, [5:07] no longer trying to terrorize the Strait of Hormuz. [5:09] I don't see the talks are making much progress. [5:12] When they're ready to get serious, [5:14] perhaps when they felt more economic pain, [5:16] more military pain, [5:18] maybe they want to re-engage at that point. [5:20] All right, Senator, thanks so much. [5:21] Good to see you in New York. [5:22] Good to see you face-to-face. [5:23] Good to be here. [5:23] I'm Steve Ducey. [5:24] I'm Brian Kilmeade. [5:25] And I'm Ainsley Earhart. [5:26] And click here to subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page [5:29] to catch our hottest interviews [5:31] and most compelling analysis.