Trump says countries called and protested his 20% Strait of Hormuz fee, reverses course

[0:00] and now let's take you inside the white house where again president trump is now taking [0:04] questions in his bilateral meeting with the prime minister of iraq let's listen in [0:10] according to the program of the government [0:14] is to restrict the position of weapons to the state and this is a basic point [0:22] and i have and this is like a decision it's not an option we received [0:27] weapons by different factions and he who ever surrender his weapon [0:34] turned into like a political civilian we will cooperate with them after the 30th of [0:44] september there's no any need for the presence of any faction because factions [0:51] is a need it's not a profession there's no any justification for their existence after the [0:59] 30th of september so also by the end of this year or by the beginning of the next year [1:09] the sovereignty conference is the biggest conference in the region the iraqi decisions [1:15] is by the hand of the iraqis only and our security forces are capable of protecting [1:22] their borders so after the 30th of september [1:28] we will never accept for any entity to carry weapons outside the control of the state [1:36] thank you thank you president trump uh my two questions i was wondering if you could explain [1:41] your changing thinking on the straight of hormuz applying a 20 fee um how did you get to the [1:46] decision you just yeah so when i uh put that out yesterday because we've been doing that for many [1:52] many years it was never fair to me that we would be guarding the straight when we basically don't [1:56] take anything we don't need the oil at all and uh it wasn't important for us but it was important [2:02] for allies it was important for people that we get along with very well including the you know major [2:07] uh gulf state countries so i put it out yesterday i thought it was good i was called by different [2:14] people different countries kings and uh emirs and all of the people that we all know and we all love [2:22] and they've been frankly they've been very strong partners and they said we'd love to do it a different [2:27] way we'd love to invest in the united states with billions and billions of dollars and continue [2:34] our record setting because we would there's never been a time like this with the united states with [2:39] the factories with the plants with everything else and we would like to invest tremendously in the [2:44] united states as opposed to charging a fee and i like that actually because i don't think anybody [2:50] should be able to charge a fee for the uh for the straight or for any other uh straight relationship [2:57] in terms of other sections of the world i don't think anybody should be really in that position [3:02] but we were doing it as a reimbursement the gulf states are going to invest a tremendous amount of [3:08] money into the united states and that was very satisfactory to me i think it's actually much better [3:16] i could also ask are you aware of why the fbi is looking into senator graham's death have you [3:21] gotten any updates on why they were at his home well i don't know why because i think you know he had a [3:27] problem his father had a very similar problem as you know it's very unique at first i heard it was [3:33] clogged arteries because he did have clogged arteries he had a problem with with that he was uh [3:40] i wish he took better care of himself i say you can you know you can solve that problem but [3:46] what happened is actually something that's very hard to detect it was not related to the any blockage it [3:51] was a totally different thing and supposedly and i've watched all the medical reports i've had the [3:58] doctors from the white house come in and explain what happened and this is something that is very [4:04] almost undetectable and if it happens there's not much you can do about it sounds unfortunate but [4:11] there's not much you can do about it if you look at his uh his father died of the same thing at about [4:18] the same age so there was not much they say it's almost undetectable you can detect it by if you [4:25] have a very bad back that's a sign it's a bad sign so if anybody has a bad back uh it's a pretty rough [4:34] thing to think about but the fact that's one of the primary signs and he would tell me he had a bad back [4:39] but little did anyone realize it was for that so and when that bursts which it did it burst uh there's [4:46] not much so i don't see a lot of people there i don't i know there's all sorts of conspiracy [4:51] theories going along and i i don't think the fbi i think the fbi is wasting their time if they're [4:56] doing that you just on the prior question could the hormones straight pull idea for you that's [5:02] that's dead now that's completely gone no i just told you you have uh sony arabia uae qatar uh bahrain [5:11] and uh kuwait and you know primarily and then others they i spoke to all of them and they would [5:18] love to invest more money in the united states at record amounts and that would be very acceptable [5:25] and this way there's no fee i don't like the concept of a fee but at the same time it's not [5:30] fair that we're protecting this straight for the entire world for china and everyone i don't mind [5:35] protecting it for china i don't mind protecting it for anybody but it's unfair that we're not in somehow [5:41] compensated and we've been doing this for many years it's bothered me 25 years ago it bothered [5:46] me during my first term i was doing things like you have to invest in the united states and but by [5:53] doing it that way there's no fee they're investing and they're getting a return on their money and it's [5:57] good but uh they're going to be making massive investments into the united states and i like that much [6:04] better [6:10] me or there's been some reporting that iraq pushing for changes to opec a larger [6:16] share even though they might consider leaving all those kind of gentlemen right here because [6:20] here he is would you like to know about are you are you considering mr prime minister [6:24] leaving open or are you pushing for change and mr president would you support [6:30] well i support him you know i supported him very early and they i endorsed him something i rarely do [6:36] but i've had great successes endorsing you know we just had colombia which was a big one argentina was a [6:42] big one we had many i've endorsed i think everybody i've endorsed from a foreign standpoint they just [6:50] win and you know i've been hearing great things i come a student of a lot of history and i do know [6:56] a lot about the history of iraq and i've watched what was happening in iraq with the elections and i put [7:02] a very strong endorsement out because i was very unhappy with the man that was supposed to win the election [7:07] and this great gentleman i think he's going to end up being a great leader he won so i'm very happy [7:13] about that as far as opec that's his decision and you might ask him that question [7:24] we are one of the countries that established opec [7:31] we need like a fair share for iraq [7:33] iraq fought isis and terrorism at all [7:40] the support of united states of america [7:44] this fight with isis [7:48] really cost us like huge amounts of money [7:51] and destroyed the iraq infrastructure [7:54] the damage that really was against iraq [7:59] is more than 400 billion dollars [8:04] until today like some iraqi cities are totally destroyed [8:09] they're like living camps [8:13] i have a plan to get them back to their homes [8:24] because if you remember even though i was a civilian and had no thought of running for president i get [8:31] a disproportionate amount of publicity as you probably heard and i used to say don't go into iraq [8:38] don't attack iraq frankly they attacked the wrong country and they did a lot of damage [8:46] thank you given how the iranians have been behaving do you have any regrets about lifting the naval [8:53] blockade or giving the sanctions waivers no i gave them a chance i wanted to give them a chance at [9:00] making a deal you know we had a deal two days ago it was done and then all of a sudden they couldn't do [9:05] it they didn't like something about the deal they couldn't do it and they shot first and that was a big [9:10] mistake that they shot first because we have been knocking the hell out of them uh they're very difficult [9:16] people 47 years we put up with it the ss call you go back all the way thousands of people thousands [9:23] of americans were killed a lot of soldiers were killed a lot of soldiers are walking around or not [9:29] walking around i mean they've been so badly injured the arms the legs the face with the [9:36] salameni with the bomb a they call it the roadside bomb most people call it the roadside bomb [9:43] uh it's a disaster and i killed him in my first administration had i not it might be a different [9:52] story today he was a mad genius he was a mad probably a mad man but he was a general and he had [9:59] total control over the country and i actually think the leaders of iran were afraid of salameni [10:05] but i killed him and by the way with him went a very bad person also they happened to be meeting each [10:12] other at the airport and a very bad person from iraq happened to be a leader of iraq happened to be [10:19] killed in that same incident so i don't know if i did your favor or not i've never asked you that [10:25] question you probably would know better than me but no i think that i think that uh what we've done to [10:31] iran is we've taken away all of them almost all of their military capabilities [10:36] a question he has to hear that [10:45] go ahead [10:46] What I'm asking about Qasim Suleimani is that he was killed in the first place when he was president of the United States. [10:57] The idea is that he was a very smart person, but he was a very smart person. [11:04] There was an event where he was going to attack an Iraqi attack. [11:08] At that time, I was not in politics. [11:28] In my visit, like, I'd like to talk about the future. [11:32] Because now I'm going to fill up with the facts. [11:36] Thank you, Mr. President. [11:41] Mr. Kurdish here. [11:43] Mr. President, thank you for your time. [11:46] Last year in May, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan region, Maslur Barzani, signed about $110 billion in energy jobs with U.S. companies here in Washington, D.C. [11:59] Mr. President, if Baghdad and Erbil work together better, that investment could grow, grow, grow. [12:09] What is your message and advice to the leaders in Baghdad and Erbil to work together? [12:15] Why am I asking this question? [12:17] Because you are a miracle makers, Mr. President. [12:20] I love this question. [12:21] It's my favorite question so far, by far. [12:25] Thank you very much for the question. [12:27] Look, Baghdad, I think, and I and this country, we're going to make some tremendous music together. [12:35] We haven't been dealing very much over the last four or five years with the previous administration. [12:42] Iraq has tremendous potential because of their oil and because of other things, but because of their oil. [12:49] And we're going to be doing a lot of deals. [12:51] We're going to create a lot of jobs for both countries. [12:54] And we're going to be taking out a lot of oil. [12:56] A lot of oil is coming out. [12:58] And the American companies are doing it, mostly American companies now. [13:03] They don't want to do business with others. [13:04] They want to do business with America. [13:06] And that's good. [13:07] And that's one of the reasons that I felt so strongly that this was going to be a great Prime Minister. [13:12] And I fought for that. [13:14] How would you describe your relationship with Kurdistan Regional Government at this time? [13:22] Because Prime Minister yesterday had a statement and fully support you. [13:27] I look at Iraq as a body. [13:38] Each part of Iraq is part of my own body. [13:44] So I would never distinguish between two, any organ. [13:51] And I cannot cut off any part of any organ from my own body. [13:57] Kurdistan is such an important part of Iraq. [14:01] It's more different than Basra and other provinces. [14:05] But because such nice things were said about him, that means he likes the man that said those nice things. [14:12] President Trump! [14:13] President Trump! [14:14] President Trump! [14:15] President Trump! [14:16] President Trump! [14:17] President Trump! [14:18] President Trump! [14:19] Thank you so much, Mr. President. [14:20] I have a question for you and I have a question for the Prime Minister. [14:22] The first question, Mr. Prime Minister, why did you choose the United States as your first trip abroad? [14:28] And what steps, concrete steps, do you take when you go back to Iraq to make sure that the agreements you are reaching in Washington, D.C., implement it? [14:41] I inherited such a heavy burden country. [14:46] I have a master degree in finance. [14:50] I analyzed the economic situation of the country. [14:56] With this burden, I need such a strategic partner to really lift this burden. [15:03] The most important strategic partner in the world is the United States of America. [15:10] It wasn't just like any visit or came out of one. [15:15] It's not emotional, it's about mine. [15:18] President Trump! [15:20] President Trump! [15:22] Inflation slowed to 3.5%. [15:24] Yeah, thank you. [15:25] Will this trend hold now that strikes on Iran? [15:27] I think so. [15:28] I think it's going to... [15:29] Inflation's down. [15:30] We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. [15:33] They say 48 years. [15:34] It was the worst in the history of our country from Biden. [15:37] Sleepy Joe. [15:38] He might have been sleepy, but boy, he could create inflation like nobody. [15:41] And I inherited that. [15:43] And I got blamed for it. [15:45] And it's not my fault. [15:46] We are putting it to sleep. [15:48] And we've done a great job, Scott and Howard and Marco and even Pete, because he's watching [15:53] his dollars, right? [15:55] But they've done a fantastic job. [15:58] We've all done a fantastic job. [16:00] So we had the worst inflation in history and the history of our country. [16:05] I mean, we had months where it was 9 and 10%. [16:08] And now we have a report just came out. [16:12] It was just released. [16:13] Thank you for bringing it up. [16:14] But the report was incredible. [16:16] Inflation is way down. [16:17] That means prices are coming way down and we're doing a great job. [16:21] Remember that. [16:22] Remember that for the midterms, I say to that camera. [16:26] Remember that because nobody else could do it. [16:29] Prices are way down. [16:30] Prices are coming way down and we're going to bring them much lower yet. [16:35] People around the world and around the nation are anticipating your big announcement on Thursday [16:40] night regarding election machines and integrity. [16:43] Can you give us sort of a sneak peek about what to expect? [16:46] Well, I'd rather save it. [16:47] It will concern that subject and we'll have a couple of other things to say also. [16:51] But I'd rather save it. [16:53] But it's really big news. [16:56] It's really, really big news. [16:59] And our country has to shape up. [17:01] But that's what we're going to be talking about Thursday is it doesn't get bigger. [17:08] Because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country. [17:11] We'll be discussing other things, too. [17:13] But it's going to be a very big announcement. [17:16] Mr. President, your administration pushed hard to shape Iraq's leadership and tied U.S. [17:22] support to resarming Iran bad fashions. [17:24] With the September 15th deadline weeks away, what happened in Baghdad? [17:28] This is it. [17:29] And does the U.S. troops withdraw from Kyrgyzstan region still proceed on schedule? [17:33] I think everything's on schedule. [17:36] We have a great... [17:37] Here we are. [17:38] I mean, we're right now. [17:39] I even called for a lunch that wasn't scheduled, okay? [17:41] So in that way... [17:42] But no, we usually we... [17:45] I don't think I've ever done that. [17:47] We didn't have lunch. [17:48] I said, let's have lunch. [17:49] You know why? [17:50] Because I like them. [17:51] At least in the lunch. [17:52] I like them. [17:53] So I think that's all going to work out very well. [17:55] Sir, do you want this Russia sanctions bill signed within the next week or two? [17:59] And will you sign it? [18:00] Well, I know that Lindsey wanted it very badly. [18:02] I think they may be adding Iran to it. [18:05] They can add Iran, which is a very big thing if they did that. [18:08] They may add Hezbollah too. [18:10] Just put them if you do business with Hezbollah. [18:13] So we're looking at that. [18:14] But they're seriously thinking... [18:16] And this is in honor of Lindsey. [18:18] This was his thing. [18:20] He wanted this more than any other thing. [18:22] You know how he felt. [18:23] And there's a good chance that it gets done. [18:26] But they'd like to add Iran. [18:28] And they'd like to add Hezbollah to it. [18:30] That's what I'm hearing. [18:31] And if any of the secondary sanctions on China, India, Europe... [18:35] Well, we'll have to look. [18:36] That hasn't been discussed. [18:37] Mr. President, my question for you. [18:42] The Prime Minister has launched a campaign to bring weapons held by militia under the control of the state. [18:49] How does your administration support him to accomplish this vision? [18:53] And my second question. [18:54] How do you envision the future relations between the Kurdistan region and Iraq? [18:58] I think everything is going to work out. [19:00] I think people are... [19:02] The Middle East, believe it or not, is coming together. [19:04] We're getting rid of the bully of the Middle East. [19:07] Iran was the bully of the Middle East. [19:09] They bullied Iraq. [19:11] They bullied every country. [19:13] They were... [19:14] There was fear all over the Middle East with other countries. [19:18] I understand that. [19:19] But there was fear. [19:20] But there's no fear anymore because their military capability has been knocked to hell. [19:25] And there's no fear. [19:26] I think the Middle East is coming together like it's never come together before. [19:30] You can't have a dominant factor like Iran that would kill 52,000 protesters. [19:35] You know, they killed... [19:36] Nobody likes talking about that. [19:38] I don't like talking about it. [19:39] They killed 52,000 protesters. [19:42] So the bottom line, all regions, I believe, are coming together. [19:46] And I think it's going to be... [19:47] This is going to be one of the great leaders right here. [19:49] It's going to be one of the great leaders in the Middle East. [19:52] Go ahead, please. [19:53] Let's explain that, please. [20:23] And I think we could go into this for a long time. [20:44] And the bottom line is that we have a fantastic relationship with many countries now. [20:49] We just had a – I just came back from NATO. [20:52] Many of you were there and you saw how that worked out. [20:54] It was a phenomenal – it was a love fest, to be honest. [20:58] And they loved the United States. [21:00] They even like me, but they loved the United States. [21:02] And we're going to cut costs there by hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe. [21:07] But the NATO event was incredible. [21:11] Today's event is incredible. [21:12] This is a potentially really great country. [21:16] And many people would say it's a great country. [21:19] We're helping it. [21:20] We want to help it. [21:21] We have a fantastic relationship with the new Prime Minister. [21:24] He's a strong person. [21:26] He's a very brilliant guy. [21:28] Very much acknowledged. [21:29] Or he couldn't have won that election. [21:31] That was a highly competitive election. [21:34] And he went out and won. [21:36] And it's a big story. [21:37] I mean, it's a big, big story. [21:39] And I just want to say that the United States has never done better. [21:43] We're doing well. [21:44] More people are working today in the United States than at any time in history. [21:49] We have more things being built. [21:50] Factories, plants, AI, automobile plants are being built at record numbers. [21:56] More than we've ever had ever before. [21:58] The tariffs have been used very judiciously and properly. [22:03] And companies and countries are pouring into this country to build factories. [22:09] Because when they build them, they have no tariffs. [22:11] And we have numbers 19.2 trillion dollars. [22:16] As an example, under Biden, it was less than one trillion for four years. [22:20] We're at 19.2 trillion for 12 months. [22:24] Nobody's ever seen anything like it. [22:26] Our relationship with Iraq is, I would say, it went from being not so good to being outstanding. [22:34] And we're going to have a long-term relationship with Iraq. [22:37] We're going to have a long-term relationship with a man that will be a great leader. [22:41] Mark my words. [22:43] I knew what I was doing. [22:45] This man is going to be a great leader in the Middle East, beyond Iraq. [22:49] His influence is going to spread all throughout the Middle East. [22:53] And we're very happy about it. [22:55] And we're very happy to have you with us. [22:57] Thank you very much. [23:00] Mr. President, I don't think there's anything much else you can ask us. [23:09] This is a very important meeting. [23:11] It's something I've never done before. [23:14] No lunch was scheduled. [23:15] I said, let's have lunch. [23:16] I've never done that before. [23:18] Sometimes we'll have a lunch scheduled. [23:20] But I've never done this. [23:21] Right, Susie? [23:22] This is a first. [23:23] So I have no idea what we're going to be eating, but it'll be fine. [23:26] But we're doing it because we like the people that we're with. [23:29] Thank you very much. [23:30] Thank you. [23:31] Thank you. [23:32] Thank you. [23:33] And that is President Trump and the Prime Minister of Iraq at the White House there. [23:38] They held a bilateral meeting, and both men took questions from reporters. [23:41] Right now, I want to go live to the White House and our reporter Erin Navarro. [23:46] Erin, what were your takeaways from what was discussed there? [23:49] Lugo, I'll start with the news that we saw earlier this afternoon, where President Trump [23:54] announced that instead of that 20 percent fee on cargo ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz, that will be charged by the U.S. in some capacity. [24:02] The details there were not yet fully known, at least publicly. [24:07] Regional countries will instead, in exchange for U.S. military security if they transit through the Strait, will invest unspecified amounts in the U.S. [24:20] The President in that Oval Office meeting saying that that exchange is, quote, very satisfactory. [24:26] And he said that after he announced that 20 percent toll, that he got many calls from regional countries saying, quote, we'd love to do it a different way. [24:36] He noted Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait. [24:41] And he said that instead that they're going to be investing in the U.S. and the U.S. will be getting something in return for securing the Strait, which has remained in a volatile state, as the U.S. and Iran argue over control of that crucial waterway. [24:56] When it comes to the negotiations generally between the U.S. and Iran, or at least what remains of them, President Trump said he has no regrets on the lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports or the waivers of sanctions. [25:11] You saw towards the beginning of the ceasefire last month, the U.S. lift that blockade and essentially enable Iran to transport oil. [25:19] They have since said as of this week that they are resuming that blockade that's expected to happen later this afternoon. [25:27] The President said he has no regrets of doing what he did in June, saying he wanted to give Iran a chance at making a deal. [25:34] And also on domestic matters, this Thursday at 9 p.m., President Trump had announced yesterday that he'd be making some sort of big speech that the nation should tune into. [25:45] And he seemed to confirm that it is related to the elections. [25:49] A reporter asked if it's related to election machines, as there have been reporting that what he could be talking about on Thursday would be about the 2020 election, where he has spread many basis claims that that election was stolen. [26:01] The President seemed to indicate it will be without showing his hand too much, while also saying that there will be many other important topics that are discussed. [26:09] And lastly, when it comes to the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, he was asked about the FBI being at his house, a potential FBI investigation. [26:20] He said, quote, the FBI is wasting their time if they're investigating Lindsey's home, saying that the death, while sudden, is not necessarily that unexpected, given the Graham family's past when it comes to heart attacks. [26:36] And lastly, on Graham, he said that there is a good chance that they will be able to pass the Russia sanctions bill that he had been pushing for before his death and that they could potentially add Hezbollah and Iran to that sanctions list that is making its way through Congress. [26:53] Okay, Aaron Navarro at the White House. Thank you so much. And now let's get to CBS News Middle East contributor Courtney Keeley. Hey, Courtney. So let's talk about this, because given the history of the U.S. and Iraq, I mean, the U.S. went to war with Iraq. What is the significance of this meeting, seeing those two leaders in the same room? [27:13] Well, President Trump really put a positive spin on this. He called the NATO meeting a love fest. He said, there's no fear that this is a new era, a new relationship in the Middle East. But this is an old relationship with old issues. And Iran really came in after the U.S. invasion and the toppling of Saddam Hussein under Saddam Hussein. [27:37] The country was Sunni minority but powerful. And then the Shia became in power. And the Iranians also have the Shia as well. And last week during the Ayatollah Khomeini's funeral, you saw the body of the former leader go to the former Supreme Leader, go to Karbala and Najaf. You saw those Iranian-backed Iraqi militias being basically the policemen at these shrines. [28:05] And what the prime minister has to do, really, Ali al-Zaidi, is be able to disarm these Iranian-backed militias that have really increased their power and have really created very uncertain security problems in Iraq. [28:21] People I know that were going to Baghdad recently are not in the way they were. It's just not safe. So there's a safety issue. There's an investment issue with the U.S. [28:29] But real safety, real issue with the Iranians and what their leadership is doing. And really now at a critical time, it's not a new era. [28:37] We're just looking at, like, a renewing of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. [28:41] And the Shia, you know, in Iraq will be pushing this new leader to give them what they want, which might be more in alignment with Iran. [28:50] Hmm. Okay. So, I mean, I guess what you're saying is that even with seeing those two men in that room together, there's still a lot of questions about the relationship and what could come next. [29:00] Really contentious. So many issues. We're talking about the disarmament of Hamas and Hezbollah, and now we're looking at the disarmament of these popular mobilization units, which is really critical to the security of Iraq. [29:13] And they had re-stabilized after the U.S. invasion of war, invasion of Iraq, but it took years. And now it's destabilized again. [29:21] And now these militias are emboldened by the Iranian regime. So that's really the sticking point, the biggest issue. [29:28] Okay. Courtney Keeley, thank you so much for your insight. Appreciate it.