Trump ‘needs and wants’ an Iran deal: Former State Dept. official after latest Trump threat

[0:00] Joining me now, we have Rick Stengel, MSNOW political analyst and former undersecretary of [0:04] state in the Obama administration. I've got a few questions for you, but based on what we just heard [0:09] from Inzimam there, when you have the president again, I'm going to say, saying, hey, the clock [0:14] is ticking, you know, careful, better do something fast kind of thing. It's like the fourth time [0:21] we've heard that. So what do you think that's about? Is the president reluctant to resume [0:28] military strikes? Alex, I would say that he is. I mean, he's a little bit like the boy who cried [0:36] wolf, as you mentioned, having said this over and over. His way of negotiating is to go to the [0:42] maximalist position, hoping that it would scare people to settle. But the Iranians have seen it [0:48] before. I mean, the Iranians' calculation has been from the beginning that they can withstand more [0:53] military pressure and economic pressure than the U.S. can withstand economic pressure and rising oil [0:59] prices. That still is the case. In fact, they're still in a position where they almost don't need [1:05] to do anything. The status quo, if Trump were to say, hey, this is over, we'll see you in 10 years, [1:12] the Iranians would be happy about that. They actually don't need to negotiate. So—and in fact, [1:18] what also happened in the last couple of days with President Trump is that he's given away certain [1:24] positions that he could use to negotiate. For example, he said in an interview on Fox News that [1:30] it's not necessary for the U.S. to get access to or confiscate U.S.'s Iranian—uranian—900 pounds of [1:39] uranium oil, Rich. I mean, he's—so that, instead of what he could use that for negotiating, [1:46] he's already said that he's given it away. So I think he wants a deal, and it's always projection. [1:52] He's projecting or saying the Iranians want a deal. He needs and wants a deal. [1:56] You know, you bring up what he said. As it happens, great minds thinking alike, [2:00] because we have that exact soundbite, and I want to play it for everybody right now. Here it is. [2:07] It was hit so hard. I mean, the mountain literally collapsed on it, a granite mountain. [2:12] So why isn't that good enough? [2:13] Just so you know. Well, just—well— [2:15] I mean, if you want—if your goal was to set back— [2:17] It is good enough, but you know what? It's not good enough public relations-wise. [2:22] Public relations-wise, might he be considering risking U.S. boots on the ground to get uranium [2:30] purely for PR purposes? [2:34] I hope not, Alex. And I think he's trying to discount the fact by saying it's not important. [2:40] It's just a PR thing. So that means it doesn't need that we need to get it. By the way, let me [2:45] remind all of our viewers that in the Obama-Iran deal, the Iranians agreed to give up 90 percent [2:51] of their enriched uranium, which was way, way—a smaller amount, both in terms of the absolute [2:57] deal and also the percentage. So that deal would be fantastic for Trump to have. Now, you could—you [3:03] could say—if Trump hadn't revealed that he doesn't necessarily need—want the uranium, [3:08] he could say, look, I really need you guys to open up the Strait of Hormuz. And in exchange for that, [3:14] I won't even take your uranium. How does that sound? He can't do that anymore. He's already given it [3:18] that way. But he's also said from the get-go, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. What is the [3:27] epicenter of a nuclear weapon? Uranium. But, Alex, you know, one of the things in terms of his kind [3:34] of false framing of things is this. And let me remind people, Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. [3:42] They're not even close to a nuclear weapon. You know, they say they have 60 percent enriched uranium. [3:47] You need 90 percent for a nuclear weapon. The status quo right now is they're not near a nuclear [3:52] weapon and they don't have ballistic missiles to deliver it outside of the region. So [3:56] he makes it seem as though it's going to be a great victory when they say, [4:02] OK, we're not going to aspire to create a nuclear weapon for military. We'll continue to enrich [4:06] nuclear power—nuclear domestic power. And Trump will say that's a great deal. By the way, [4:12] that was the status quo before he invaded Iran. OK, let's move to what all went down this week [4:19] with Taiwan's president insisting that his country is already independent after Trump warned against [4:24] formally declaring independence from China and after Trump said a $14 billion U.S. weapon sale to [4:30] Taiwan will now be left up to China. But then here's what Speaker Mike Johnson said today. Take a listen. [4:37] We've been wary of China's objectives there for quite some time, of course. The U.S. military and [4:45] every president has been watching this closely and we continue to do so. I saw the statement from [4:49] Taiwan. I thought there was a reasonable thing for the leader there to say. They've got to flex their [4:54] muscle a little bit and declare again that they are an independent country and they must remain so. [4:59] We have an interest in that, as, again, do all freedom-loving people around the world. China cannot [5:03] just go take over land and we're going to stand strong and resolute by that. I know that Congress will. [5:08] Is Trump headed for a showdown with Congress over this? [5:14] It's possible. And by the way, Alex, speaking of giving away another bargaining position, [5:18] the fact that he also said in the last two days in one of the interviews that he might be willing [5:23] to compromise about the amount of weapons being sold to Taiwan by the U.S., he's been giving that [5:30] away to the Chinese who recognize that. You know, U.S. policy vis-à-vis Taiwan has not been a profile [5:38] and courage ever since Ronald Reagan in 1982. We have this policy of strategic ambiguity where we [5:46] do not say that Taiwan is an independent nation. We do not say that the U.S. would come to the [5:53] defense of Taiwan. Obviously, they have been having discussions all over the years that [5:58] American presidents, until Donald Trump, have said, look, yes, we will come to your aid. We will [6:03] continue to sell nuclear weapons to you. But Trump seemingly is seemingly willing to compromise this [6:10] and go too far. Even the, you know, the Speaker of the House doesn't support what Trump is willing [6:16] to do, which is kind of negotiate away the U.S. advantage. Yeah. You know, Rick, this is becoming [6:22] a thing. I'm very much enjoying it. I appreciate our conversations and appreciate you making the time. [6:27] So I hope we'll do it again soon. Thank you.