Trump says there's "NO LIMITS" on his POWER in AXIOS Interview

[0:00] President Trump sat down with Mark Caputo of Axios at the White House yesterday for his first [0:05] interview since signing the agreement that extends the ceasefire with Iran. Here's part of that [0:09] conversation. What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your [0:15] power as a result of the conflict? There are no limits. No, no, not. I haven't learned that [0:21] lesson yet. I know there are, but you know, there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily. [0:26] Who else could have done a blockade like that? I did a naval blockade where not one ship was able [0:32] to get through. Some tried. They didn't, you know, it didn't last very long. And it certainly brought [0:38] Iran to the table more than before. However, beginning of conflict, you had talked about [0:43] you only wanted unconditional surrender. And well, the MOU doesn't look like unconditional surrender. [0:49] Well, it really probably is unconditional surrender. And White House reporter for Axios, [0:57] Mark Caputo himself joins us now. Mark, good morning. So take us inside that conversation [1:02] with the president. There's a lot even just in that one clip we played there. This is not [1:05] unconditional surrender for Iran, obviously. But what stood out to you? What stood out for me is [1:11] the guy didn't really sleep. The president hadn't slept much. I think in maybe two hours he had flown [1:15] back from Europe. But his general attitude was very positive, despite all of the negative commentary [1:23] and pushback over the deal. The president seems pretty relieved because he has an exit here. [1:28] And he's looking at two things. He's looking at the stock market and he's looking at the price of oil [1:33] and the price of oil is down. And at one point in the interview, he said it or a few points in the [1:39] interview, he said that at one point he said, it's a gusher as if he literally struck oil through this [1:45] deal because of the price like lower. And that really impressed me because it just shows what [1:53] Trump is really focused on. Yeah. Mark, you talked also about, I mean, a whole range of things. [1:59] You had half an hour, I think, with the president. You spoke about regime change. You also spoke about [2:03] his relationship with Netanyahu. We heard J.D. Vance earlier being very critical of the Israeli [2:11] government, surprisingly so for an American vice president. How was the president when you asked [2:17] him about his relationship at the moment with Netanyahu? I specifically asked him that. And he [2:22] said, like, Bibi, like, we're good. He said, but we've got to keep him. And he sort of paused for a [2:27] second, sane. And I said, well, how do you control Israel from attacking Lebanon and possibly sort of [2:36] starting to wreck the ceasefire of the steel? And he says, they're going to do what I say. [2:42] And they listened to me. And it was just a very kind of clear statement from Trump that he thinks [2:48] he has so much influence over there because of not just his relationship with Netanyahu, [2:54] but also I think Israel standing in the world, as Vance indicated, that he has this sort of ability. [3:00] Now, whether or not Netanyahu is going to go along with it, who knows? We reported a little while ago [3:03] at Axios, that very hot phone call that Trump had with Netanyahu. And Netanyahu attacked Lebanon [3:09] at a certain point. And the Iranians started to pull out of negotiations and caused all the [3:13] sturm und drang. So it's less of a close relationship now than it was heading into the war. [3:20] He spent the last few days in Europe as the details of the MOU started to come out. And we report on the [3:27] program, the number of Republican senators, Cassidy, Cotton, Wicker, who have now come out pretty [3:31] critical about the deal. Do you think, and you say that the president sounded genuinely positive [3:37] about what he'd achieved. Do you think now that he comes back and he turns on Fox News and he's [3:42] sitting in the residence and he's watching television and he sees the criticism even coming [3:46] from Fox News, that that's going to change his mind about this deal or that it's going to make it [3:52] harder for him to defend it? [3:53] Woe betide him who predicts what Donald Trump is going to do. Nevertheless, I would find it difficult [3:59] to believe that he would change that much. My general view of Trump is that if you criticize [4:05] something that he has started to put his chips in, he doesn't like the criticism. I asked him during [4:11] the interview, are you going to punish any of the Republicans who oppose you on this? Because [4:17] there are elements of the deal with sanctions that are going to need to come back to Congress for [4:22] sort of a final approval in part to set up or make effective this $300 billion reconstruction fund. [4:29] And it took me a little while to get the president to answer, but he said basically no. [4:34] Now, I'm wondering if that'll change. That is, if the criticism reaches a fever pitch from his own [4:40] party, does he start to really push back and start to target people? I don't know that. [4:45] So, Mark, congrats on the interview. Obviously, it's yet another example of President Trump trying [4:50] to assert his own reality, right? Living in denial, I'd argue, about some of the outcomes here in Iran. [4:56] But he can read the polls, and certainly other members of the Republican Party can, and they [4:59] see how unpopular this war was, and currently how unpopular he and the GOP is. So, you know, [5:05] is there any recognition, not from Trump himself personally, but aides you've talked to, [5:09] just about what a bind they're in? Is there any sort of concern as to what this meant for November? [5:14] If you scratch a few layers beneath the surface, yeah, you'll hear that. But there certainly is [5:21] going to be nothing on the record or even on background. But you can tell that what was just [5:27] really concerning them is not just the poll numbers, but what was causing the underlying [5:31] poll number troubles. And that was the price of gas. And my guess here, having talked to them over the [5:39] past few months about the war, is that the argument they're going to make is, look, everyone was [5:45] complaining about gas prices. Well, gas prices are coming back down, and therefore what the [5:50] president's proposing is a good idea. And that might be a challenging argument for his opponents [5:57] and his critics to push back on. It's true that the American people don't really pay a lot of [6:01] attention to the finer points of foreign policy and, you know, these various points of the MOU. [6:08] They're focused on their lives, and they're driving around. And every day there's been a scoreboard [6:13] on street corners that people have seen. That's the price of fuel. Even if you drive a Tesla, [6:18] you at least can see what the price of fuel is doing. And it's been up, and people don't like [6:21] it. And now it's going to come down. And the president's hope is, as a result of that coming [6:26] down, the fortunes of Republicans increase. That is, if they take yes for an answer, his version of [6:31] yes, and embrace this deal. One of the many extraordinary moments in this interview, when you ask [6:36] about regime change, you say, how is this regime change? And the president says, well, [6:41] they are different people. Khomeini Jr. is different from the father, which I guess [6:45] technically is true, but probably not the definition of regime change. You can see the [6:49] full interview online for Axios. White House reporter for Axios, Mark Caputo. Thanks so much [6:54] for bringing it to us.