KRISTEN WELKER:
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President Trump, welcome back to Meet the Press.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Thank you.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Thank you so much for being here. We are going to talk about your visit, why you’re here in Wisconsin. But I’d like to start off by talking about the major issue that you are focused on every day which is Iran. Sunday will mark 100 days since the first strikes. Your secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said that the war had concluded. And yet, just this week, Iran attacked U.S. allies in the region, calling it retaliation for a set of U.S. air strikes. Is the United States at war with Iran?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, they’ve been largely decapitated. And I call it a military exercise because people would rather have it called that. It’s not a big war for us. It’s not. We have the most powerful military in the world. I built it, frankly. I built it in my first four years. And I’m using it a little bit in my second four years. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. They might’ve built it up a little bit over the last four weeks during this little ceasefire that we did at the request of some very good people, very, very fine people from — actually from numerous places, as you know. You know, there are a lot of people involved. But from Pakistan in particular, the field marshal and the prime minister. And we’re very close to having a deal. And if we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it one way or the other. Either way, we win.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I do want to talk about the terms of any potential deal —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Sure.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– in just a moment. But let me just follow up with you. You did post on social media just this week, “My final negotiations to end the war with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” There is a naval blockade in place –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– which technically is an act of war under international law. So is this a war as long as there’s a naval blockade in place?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, we have a blockade. It’s been extremely effective. And the reason we have it is they tried a blockade, and now we blockaded them. And, as you know, they’re losing $400-500 million a day. It’s not sustainable for them. They have an economy that’s shot, in addition to everything else. Their leaders are gone. Their generals are gone. Their first tier and second tier are gone. Much of their third tier is gone. But they put up a blockade and so we blockaded them. And we have the ultimate blockade. I don’t consider that a war, but if you want to define it as such, I guess you can.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, how do you define it?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I don’t define it at all. I don’t think about it. I just do what I have to do.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But if you’re not specifically calling it a war, would you consider sending some of the troops who are stationed there, who were sent because of Operation Epic Fury there home?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You mean boots on the ground? Are you talking about –
KRISTEN WELKER:
No. Would you consider sending them home if it’s not technically a war?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We don’t need as many troops. I think it’s just like it’s on the — to err on the side of caution. We have a lot of people there. They’re very safe. You know, if you think, we beat Venezuela. We lost nobody. Took over the whole country. We lost nobody. We have a great relationship, by the way, with Venezuela. Venezuela’s doing very well. But we lost nobody. We’ve lost 13 people here and that’s a lot. Thirteen people, too many. But, if you look at Vietnam, where hundreds of thousands of people were killed, if you look at any one of the last seven or eight wars where many, many people were killed, we lost 13. And again, 13 is too many. I don’t want to lose any. But 13 is less than anybody’s ever even envisioned. I think we’re doing a great job.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But so are you saying you would consider sending some of the troops home, sir? Some of the 50,000 troops who were sent there as a part of Operation Epic Fury?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I would say this. It costs us very little to keep them there. I don’t consider them in danger. We have the best defense anyone’s ever seen. We have the best offense anyone’s ever seen. So I don’t consider it danger. I would say it would be foolhardy to do that because maybe we may use them. It’s unlikely. But I think we’ll keep them there until such time as we have a completion. And when we have a completion, you will see things like you’ve never seen. The oil will go down. The stock market already, as you know, it’s at an all-time high. Even in the midst of it, it hit all-time highs. We had 73 all-time highs in the short period of time that I’ve been in office, which is a record, by the way. And, you know, we’re doing very well. But the main thing is we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, can’t do it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What is your –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And we won’t do it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Now, you just referenced the 13 Americans who were killed.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And I want to know what your red line is. What would trigger you to restart military action? Would it be Iran killing more American citizens?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, certainly, that would be something that I would think about very seriously. But my red line would be if I think I wasn’t going to make a deal, or if I wasn’t going to make a deal fast enough. So we’re having very good negotiations with the people that are leading the country now. It’s the third group that we’ve been dealing with. And they are different. And you could say it’s regime change actually because these are very different people. I find them to be more rational, very smart.
More from NBC News’ interview with Trump
KRISTEN WELKER:
Who — who is that? Who’s leading the country?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I don’t want to go into names. But you know who they are. They’re leaders. They’re respected, respected by the people that have to respect them. They are calling the shots. We know that because we see it through various tests that we’ve given. It’s a little bit strange because you have leaders that have been there for a long time, and they get wiped out. Then you have leaders that you also know, the second tier, and they get wiped out. All of a sudden, we’re dealing with different people. But no, I think that we’ll either have something done fairly quickly, or we’ll finish it out militarily.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you talking about the son of the Supreme Leader?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, he’s a part of it. Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
He has not been seen in public.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. But I do believe —
KRISTEN WELKER:
What is his status? Have you talked to him directly?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– I do believe they have great respect for him. I see it. I mean, they want to get his concurrence. They’ve said to me, they’ve said to others, that they’re looking for approval. And he is part of the approval process. Absolutely.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Have you spoken to him directly? You said —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I have not.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– you want to meet with him.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, I have not. I would if he’d like to, but I have not spoken to him directly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you know where he is?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I will tell you, they do —
KRISTEN WELKER:
How he is?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah. They do pay homage to him. I would tell you if they didn’t. They seem to — based on what I see, they seem to respect him a great deal.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you know where he is? Do you know how he is doing physically?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I don’t want to say whether or not I know where he is. But there’s a good probability that I do.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is he inside Iran?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I’d rather not say that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. He is the son of the last Supreme Leader –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– who was obviously a hardliner. Is this younger Khamenei any better for the United States than his father was?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Younger. I think more rational. Injured. He’s pretty badly injured. So there’s a certain bravery there. A lot of people, if they were injured that badly, they wouldn’t be talking about, you know, “How are we doing with the United States?” They’d have other things on their mind. So there’s a certain bravery there. But he is very seriously injured. Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What is the status of talks exactly in this moment? How close are you to making a deal? Are we talking about days, weeks, months, Mr. President?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I mean, I think we’re very close. We have a couple of points. They don’t even seem like big points. They’ve conceded the fact that they will not have nuclear weapons. We had a clause in there that we will not develop nuclear weapons. And everybody was very happy with it except me. And I said, “Well, what happens if they, not develop, but they go out and purchase, they acquire?” I want to put the word, if they buy, or purchase, or acquire. You know, you’ve got to have that in there too because that’s not developing. So they don’t have the right to develop or purchase, acquire, or buy.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Have they pushed back against that? Is that one of the sticking points?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
A little bit. And then they didn’t.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. You have been saying for months, Mr. President, that Iran is begging to make a deal.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
True.
KRISTEN WELKER:
If they are so desperate to make a deal, why haven’t they made a deal with you yet?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because they — it’s a very hard thing for them. They’ve had great independence. They’ve dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States and other countries, frankly, that were — that allowed them to get away with murder. And I don’t — I think they can’t believe they’re in the situation where they’ve been virtually decapitated.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But if they’re so desperate, Mr. President, why haven’t they said “yes” to the terms you’re proposing?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because they’re strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice. And it takes a little while. You know, you’re talking about 47 years of getting away with whatever they wanted. I mean, we should — this should’ve been done long ago. This should’ve been done by other presidents, or other countries. Doesn’t have to be us. Other countries. But they were very close to having a nuclear weapon twice. That was when I terminated the Iran nuclear deal, which was a path — that deal, the JCPOA, that deal was tantamount to giving them a nuclear weapon. It was a horrible deal, given by Barack Obama. And really penned by him. It was a horrible deal. It was — you know, it expired long ago. Had I not — I terminated it. But had I not terminated it, it expired long ago. It was a short term deal. It was a road to a nuclear weapon. They would’ve had a nuclear weapon five years ago.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But, Mr. President, I’m curious because when you were campaigning, you said you would rip up the Iran nuclear deal, but negotiate –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I did.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— a better deal.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
That’s what I’m doing.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Why didn’t you negotiate a better deal at the time, because after it was ripped up —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It doesn’t go that fast.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— there weren’t guardrails, and they escalated their production–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Excuse me. Excuse me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— of enriched uranium?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Excuse me. It takes years to do these things. These people have been fighting for 47 years. They’ve been killing Americans, they’ve been taking off their legs and their arm, and their faces have been hurt so badly and so horribly. I’m moving very fast. I’m into three months. You know, Vietnam lasted 19 years. I’m into my third month, and all I do is say, whoa, when are you going to end? If I were a Democrat, nobody would be talking that way. But it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve gotten so used to it. Look, we have totally destroyed their military. They have some missiles left. They have some drones left.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you know how many missiles?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
They have — Yes, exactly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
How many?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
I don’t want to tell you.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Could you give me a ballpark?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But they have some left. No. But they have — I know almost to the number. And we know where they are too. And we know where their drones are. And we know where their drone factories are. Most of the drone factories have been knocked out, most of the launching pads have been knocked out and most of the missile manufacturing areas have been knocked out. But they still have capacity. They have some missiles. They have some drones. I would say, percentage-wise, maybe 21, 22 percent of their missiles. It’s a lot of missiles. But it’s not what it was when we first attacked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you’re saying they have 21, 22 percent of their missiles left?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Correct. Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. Let’s talk about what specifically you are demanding as a part of this short-term deal. Will the United States agree to a deal with Iran that doesn’t explicitly and immediately give up its nuclear enrichment program on the front end?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, you know, depending on when you say “immediately.” Look, it is buried under mountains because our B2s were incredible. The pilots of our B2s were unbelievable. And it’s buried. They can’t get it. The only two countries that could take it, that have the equipment to take — you have to understand three mountains have fallen in on them, right? So you understand that, because the fake news was going around saying, “Oh, maybe they didn’t hit their target.” One o’clock in the morning, pitch black, no moon, no nothing, and every one of those bombs went right down those chutes, blew up. They can’t get it no matter what. I mean, they can get it I guess with years of work. But the only two countries that can get it are us and China because we’re the only two with the equipment that’s capable of doing that kind of work. And it would take weeks, weeks of digging. So, the answer is yeah, we’re going to do it immediately. We’re going to start looking very quickly. And we’ll do it with them. If we make a deal, we’ll do it with them.
KRISTEN WELKER:
With China?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. We’re going to do it with the Iranians. So if we make a deal, that means we’ll be friendly, we’ll do it with the Iranians. If we don’t make a deal, we may do it, or we may just watch it. You know, we have cameras on it, all over it. If anybody walked there, if you walked over there, I would be able to read your first name on your lapel. And these are cameras up in space. It’s pretty amazing technology. Space Force. We have cameras all over the site. We know if anybody goes there. If anybody went there, any digging mechanism, any truck, any tractors, anything, anybody went there, we would know. We will take care of it. Is that wind or what?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is that rain?
DAVID GELLES:
It’s fine, keep — you can keep going.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
What is that?
DAVID GELLES:
Rain.
VOICE OF KRISTEN WELKER:
This would be the first of multiple interruptions due to weather. Rain on the metal roof making it difficult for both of us to hear each other.
KRISTEN WELKER:
As we’re having this conversation, we can hear a little bit of rain.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, a lot of rain.
KRISTEN WELKER:
A lot of rain. Let me try to get a clear understanding of how the United States would get the nuclear material out.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You’ve called it nuclear dust.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Will you, and would you be open, to sending in U.S. forces to retrieve the nuclear stockpile?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah. So the official name is highly enriched uranium. And I call it nuclear dust because it seemed to be nice, and everyone understands it better, and it’s sort of cute, and people picked it up. But the way you do it is if we make a deal, if we make a deal now we’re friendly, we’ll all go together. It’ll be our equipment. We’ll take it out and destroy it, whether it’s onsite or whether we take it offsite.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So that would require U.S. forces?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, that will require — we will have a deal. We’ll be friendly. In other words, we will have made a deal. And we will be at peace. And we will go with them, or without them. But we won’t have people shooting at us, okay? Now, if we don’t make a deal, then we’re going to take them out militarily very harshly. And we’ll wait till we do that before we go, in which case we’ll have safety either way.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, I wonder, how long are you willing to give Iran to make a deal? How much longer?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I wouldn’t say —
KRISTEN WELKER:
You’ve been talking for quite some time.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well I wouldn’t say — well, you really haven’t — again, you were in Vietnam for 19 years. You were in Iraq for many years. You were in Korea for many, many years. You were in all — I won’t even talk about World War II, because that was the big one. And we don’t want to ever have that. But you were in all these different wars for many years with thousands and thousands of people killed. We’ve had 13 people killed, which I hate. We’ve had 13 people killed. And that includes two wars. That’s Venezuela, and that’s Iran.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But do you have a cut-off point in your head?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, but you keep talking about speed. Kristen, you were in Vietnam for 19 years, and you’re telling me about three months. And in three months, I’ve demolished the navy, the air force, anti-aircraft. They have no radar. They have no nothing. I demolished their leaders. Their leaders are gone.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you know where all of Iran’s nuclear material is, sir?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yes. Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you unfreeze any Iranian assets or lift any sanctions upfront as a part of any deal?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So that would come after —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Comes after. Yeah. If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking. Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— they turned over their nuclear enrichment material?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Unlike Obama. Obama flew a Boeing 757, a plane I know very well. They took the seats out, and they loaded it up with $1.7 billion in cash from the banks in Maryland and Virginia and D.C. They emptied out the banks, and they gave them 1.7 in green. And they gave them tens of billions of dollars. Just kept giving them money. And it didn’t work.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would any — again, Mr. President –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
That never works, by the way.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But again, Mr. President, you promised that you were going to negotiate a better deal.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I have.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you wish you’d done it in your first term, when you ripped it up, at that — before you ripped up the deal?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. They weren’t ready. No, this is much better. This is much better.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Will you –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
If I would’ve done it in my first term, Israel wouldn’t have been ready. Hear that sound? That sound of thunder, lightning, rain.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is that going to interrupt, guys?
DAVID GELLES:
No. Keep going.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Ok.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
People will understand. We’re in a farm.
KRISTEN WELKER:
That’s true. Will any deal you make include the release of Americans who are being held by Iran?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, we talk about it. And we’ll see. Nobody really has an accurate list of who they are, what they are, or if they’re being held. But if they’re — We’ve been talking about it. Nobody really has a list. You know that, right? You know, you’re asking me about — nobody has a list.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But are you demanding a list? Are you demanding to know —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— and saying, “They’ve got to come home?”
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You’re supposed to give me the list. I mean, do you know people that we’re talking about? If you give me their names, I’ll do my best to get them home.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, I don’t think that’s been reported.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Huh?
KRISTEN WELKER:
I don’t think all of the people who’ve been held is known.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
All I’m saying is this. If you have a list of names, give them to me and I will get them out.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But is it something you talk to them about?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We talk about people if they have them, but nobody knows who they are, just like you don’t know who they are.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You have openly said you’ve been frustrated by Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon. Are you and Prime Minister Netanyahu on the same page?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah, we are. We get along very well. We’ve been great comrades. We did a very, very big number on a certain country that was nothing but trouble for 47 years. I disagree with him on a couple of things.
KRISTEN WELKER:
On Lebanon?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I’d like to see — I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life. I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical. And we can help them with that, or we can recommend Syria. Syria’s doing a very good job of cleaning up their act. They have a very good leader. They have a leader that’s really done a good job in a short period of time. And he would love to help.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you demanding that Lebanon be a part of the short term deal —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– that you’re negotiating?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I’m not at all. I’m not demanding. I think they’d like to see it, but I’m not demanding.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. I wonder if we should — let me just get a gut check here. Should we pause for five minutes and let this pass? I just want to be able to hear everything he says.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I’d like to talk big picture now, Mr. President. One of your consistent campaign promises was no new wars, going all the way back to 2015. Did you break that promise to the American –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– people?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. I had to stop a country, very powerful, very dangerous country, from having a nuclear weapon because they’d use it. They’d blow up the world. They’d blow up the Middle East. They’d blow up Israel. They’d come here. They’d blow up Europe. They’re nuts, okay? They’re crazy people. I deal with them. And very high-strung people. Little crazy. And — I get along with them. I like them. But you don’t want to let them have a nuclear weapon. And I’m doing the world a service, but I’m doing our country a service. You know, it’s America first. I’m doing our country a service. Nice rain.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It is raining hard. Keep going?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But the answer is good. Let’s just keep going. Let’s power through it, right?
VOICE OF KRISTEN WELKER:
We paused nearly five minutes for the rain to pass and then picked up our conversation.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you’re saying you didn’t break your promise. And yet, Mr. President, in your first term, you held to that promise and it was so fundamental to who you were as a candidate, to a first-term president. What changed, because you insisted “no new wars”?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, well. First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world? I built our military. I inherited a terrible military. We had no equipment. We had nothing. I built a tremendous military. Biden gave a lot of it away, but it’s still a relatively small portion compared to what I built.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you said it over and over again, Mr. President.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Why would I build a military — Now, I didn’t want to use this, but I’m doing you and everybody else a big favor. In the midst of the greatest stock market in history, in the midst of the most successful country because, as you know, in the last term, we were a dead country, Kristen. I know you, you’re a big liberal, a big progressive.
KRISTEN WELKER:
No.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But we were —
KRISTEN WELKER:
I’m just a journalist.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We were a dead country. A year ago, couple of years ago, we were a dead country. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. And at the all-time hottest point, which is probably now, believe it or not– we’ve just had all brand new stock market records today. But at the hottest point in the history of our country, I took Scott, Howard, I took Pete, I took everybody into a room. I said, “I have to do this country, this world, the Middle East, Israel, everybody a favor. You have Iran. They’re going to have a nuclear weapon. Barack Hussein Obama signed the JCPOA. It was a horrible deal. Horrible deal. Listen to me. It was a horrible deal. It was a path to them getting a nuclear weapon. They were very close to having a nuclear weapon. I terminated the deal. Wait. Then I sent the B2 bombers in about nine, ten months ago. And they obliterated, totally obliterated, the site. And I saved it. We had a choice. We could let them have a nuclear weapon, or we could go along and have some beautiful days. But they would have, you know, it’s a judgment. They would’ve used a nuclear weapon. And you know what? When people hear that whole scenario, when they hear me say, “Iran’s going to have a nuclear weapon, and they’re crazy,” they say, “You’re doing the right thing.” I don’t think it’s an unpo — I mean, you’ll do polls because they’re all fake polls anyway, especially yours. But you do polls. I just won a big election. And the reason I won an election is people have confidence in me. I have good judgment. I had to make a judgment. Do I want to go along and have a country that’s doing really well, but somebody is going to try and kill us? Or do I want to put out that horrible threat? And I did. It put it out. I put it out for many, many years. Now, I’m going to put it out permanently. I’m going to do it either through negotiation, where we’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them, to be honest with you. And it’s going to be very easy for me to do that. That’s actually the easier path. So when you say I promised, I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months. Much of it has been under the form — a pretty good form of ceasefire. The blockade has been amazing. Our Navy is amazing. Our military’s the best in the world. Hey, we took over a very powerful country, Venezuela. Lot of soldiers. Big, strong military. We took over Venezuela in a matter of minutes. We destroyed the capability of Iran in a matter of days. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Now I’m going to finish it. But remember, you were in Vietnam 19 years because of stupid people. You were in so many different countries. Every war, you were in for years. Look at Iraq. You were there for years. Listen. Kristen. We’re there for a few months. And the threat is largely over. Soon, it will be over. But you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or they will blow you up. There will be no Kristen. There will be no NBC. There will be no Meet the Press. You will end the Meet the Press string.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you though, during your 2016 campaign, you called the Middle East a quagmire.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It is.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What makes you so sure this won’t become a quagmire?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We’re not going to be there.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You’re convinced this won’t become a quagmire?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s not a quagmire. Just wiped out the military of a very dangerous country. And I wiped out the nuclear threat. Let me tell you, if we left tomorrow, we just said, “All right, let’s get out,” it’ll take them 15 or 20 years to rebuild back. But I’m not going to give them even that chance. Not going to give them that chance. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. And if there was even a 1% chance that they’d have it, I wouldn’t leave. We’re almost finished. We’re going to either have a deal, a strong deal, a meaningful deal, not like the Obama thing. Obama was a path to a nuclear weapon. Mine is the exact opposite. Mine is a wall. It’s a wall, just like I built 1,000 miles of wall on our southern border. And, by the way, I took the worst border in history, and I made it the best border in history in a matter of weeks.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And yet, Mr. President, Iran was the closest to developing weapons-grade uranium after you ripped up the nuclear deal because there were no guardrails in place.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Excuse me. They were developing it during the nuclear deal. You don’t know that? Iran, when Obama signed that stupid deal where he paid them billions, and billions of dollars. He thought he could bribe them. Listen to me. They were developing a nuclear weapon. That’s how they got there. They got all of this uranium during Obama. You know that, don’t you? Well, that’s how they got there. Don’t say this. They got there. They developed it during the Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, during his administration.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And they’ve escalated their development after the deal was ripped up.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They didn’t escalate anything.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let’s talk about the economy.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Let me just tell you something.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to talk about the economy.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
If I didn’t go in there with the B2 bombers, they would right now have a nuclear weapon, and it could be that half of the world would be eradicated already.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you about the economy. You got a strong jobs report today that beat expectations.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Not strong. Not strong. Really strong.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Beat expectations.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
By how much? Triple.
KRISTEN WELKER:
170,000 jobs created.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Triple.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And yet, gas is up. Diesel is up.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s all coming down as soon as the war’s over.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, 70% of farmers say they can’t afford fertilizer. What’s your message to —
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
The farmers are doing very well.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you. What is your message to farmers, many who support you, but who say they’re struggling?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
All of them support me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Who say they’re struggling?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because there’s nobody been better to farmers. You know what I gave farmers last term? $28 billion because China took advantage and other people. And you know who paid for it? China, last term. You know, I had a great first term. I had the greatest economy ever. And you know what? This one’s blowing it away.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What’s your message to farmers though, Mr. President, who say they are struggling? They’re struggling to make ends meet.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Are you ready? Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions, and you don’t listen to the answers. I love the farmers, and the farmers love me. The farmers trust me. In the first term, I had something very similar. China and others were — and Canada, which was brutal, they were taking advantage of our farmers. They don’t take advantage of them anymore. I gave them $28 billion, split up. They never had a pay day like that. And the farmers love me. And they came back, and they voted for me in record numbers. You know that. Nobody’s ever even come close. Now, because of the fact that we had a choice– I had a choice to make. I could keep it going. The farmers were doing great. Fertilizer was very cheap. Everything was cheap. Gasoline was very low. Everything was very low. I could’ve kept it that way. But I said, I have to take a little bit of a turn. The farmers are going to understand it better than anybody. We’re going to have higher gasoline. We’re going to have a little higher fertilizer, et cetera, et cetera. But I’m going to get rid of a nuclear weapon in the hands of very dangerous people. Excuse me. Wait. It should’ve been done for 47 years. No president had the guts to do it. I did it, and I’ve done it. It’s almost complete. As soon as that’s complete, gasoline prices are going to drop like a rock. You know, I was in Iowa speaking about farms. And it was before we attacked Iran. And I was in Iowa, and the prices were $1.85 a gallon. $1.91 a gallon — What?
VOICE OF KRISTEN WELKER:
This time, it wasn’t the rain, but an audio issue that forced us to pause the interview again.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are gas prices going higher or have they peaked?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They’re going to come low, very low. They’re going to go lower than they were before.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Have they peaked?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
As soon — Well, it depends. I mean, it depends where the war goes. It could be, I’ll have to give them a shot, and it could be we’ll sign an agreement. If we sign an agreement, it’ll go down now. Otherwise, it’ll go down after we’re finished.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You have a new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
His first meeting in the role is later this month. After this month’s jobs report, economists now say it’s possible the Fed may have to raise rates. Do you think that’s possible? And what would your reaction be, sir?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
So, I’m of a different feeling. I think Kevin is — Kevin is fantastic, and I want him to do whatever he wants. I don’t want to have a big influence on him. But we had a great report. We’re doing great, and it’s unfair that whenever you do great, they want to raise interest rates. It should be the opposite way. You know, if you go back 15 or 20 years, when you had good reports, the market went up. Nowadays when you have good reports, the market goes down because they think they’re going to raise interest rates. There’s no reason to raise interest rates. The country becomes great. We built the country by doing great and having rates low. What they do is when they raise interest rates, they try and kill success. I don’t want to kill success. We should actually lower interest rates. Now, if inflation comes, and, you know, people live with inflation, but if inflation comes what happens is you stamp it out. But success can kill inflation just like higher interest rates. What they do now is, like, we had great job numbers. You agree, right?
KRISTEN WELKER:
They beat expectations.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Not expectations. Like, three times, okay. But you ready? What do they do? They say, “Oh, let’s raise interest rates.” It’s the wrong thing to do. I would like to see rates get lower because we could build this into the greatest machine that the world has ever seen, but you can’t do that when everybody immediately raises interest rates. So we had great job numbers. We’re doing great. You know, we’re building more factories. We have more money coming into our country right now from other countries and people than ever before. Wait a minute. What happens? I don’t want to just kill it with high interest rates. Growth is the greatest thing you can have, and growth does not cause inflation.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you be upset if they raised rates? What is your message to them about that?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I’m– I’m– living with Kevin. I have a lot of respect for him, but my feeling is that when a country is doing well, they shouldn’t be penalized by immediately raising interest rates. They should actually be incentivized. You know, we have debt, we have other things. We have things we want to take care of. I want to go bigger on the military. I really do. If we do what I’m saying, this will be a beautiful, well-oiled machine like you’ve never seen before.
KRISTEN WELKER:
This $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund that’s going to compensate people who say the federal government weaponized the legal system against them. It’s been blocked by the courts, met with opposition from Republicans –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And Democrats.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– in Congress, and Democrats.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Most, excuse me, mostly Democrats.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mostly Democrats and some Republicans.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Some. Very few Republicans.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Just to be very clear, are you backing off the fund completely as your acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said, or are you looking for another avenue to revive the fund?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
So let — let me explain what the fund is. People have been hurt so badly by radical left lunatics that worked for the Biden administration and Sleepy Joe. They’re vicious. They’re violent, what they did to people. And of course they went after me more than anybody else. They raided Mar-a-Lago and all the other things. But people have been badly hurt. They’ve committed suicide. They’ve lost their jobs. They’re lost their families. They’ve lost their wives. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost everything over a fake weaponization of government. Now, let me just tell you –
KRISTEN WELKER:
So are you looking for a way to revive it?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, look. If it was up to me, I’d pay them the kind of money that they deserve. People have been destroyed. Lives have been destroyed. Many suicides, think of it. People have committed suicide because a bunch of thugs went after them.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You don’t –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
So me, personally, I think the weaponization fund is a great idea, and so do many other Republicans. You have to get it approved. If they get it approved, that’s great. If they don’t get it approved, I’d be disappointed.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. We’re going to motor through this.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But you have to understand, people have — have been destroyed by crooked politicians, and they should be reimbursed for that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you think anyone who attacked police officers on January 6th should get taxpayer money?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I wouldn’t be inclined to say so, but I have to see it. I can tell you this: 97% of those people, you look at them, the FBI or whoever it was, cause you had a lot of crooked cops, you had dirty cops. Comey was a dirty cop.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, there is no evidence to –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
A guy like Bolton was a dirty cop –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But there is no evidence that– but there’s no evidence that people who –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Oh, you think Comey was a straight cop?
KRISTEN WELKER:
We had 170 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Comey was a dirty cop.
KRISTEN WELKER:
No, no, but the people who assaulted police officers.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They had FBI — listen to me. They had FBI agents ushering them into the building. They had FBI “Go into the building.” Those people are walking around, they’re looking, “Oh, isn’t this nice?” They weren’t in– they were being ushered into the building.
KRISTEN WELKER:
There’s no evidence of that, sir. There’s no evidence of that.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You had a bunch of dirty cops, and frankly, what they did was weaponization of our government.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But sir, there– there’s no evidence of that. More than a thousand people pleaded guilty to crimes –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, well, yeah, no, there’s none. You know what they do?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Try looking at the tapes one time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you take it off the table?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Look at the tapes one time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay, but 172 people did plead guilty to assaulting police officers.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You know why they pled guilty?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Should they be exempt –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because they told they were going to jail for 15 years –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– from receiving funds?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– if they didn’t.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Should they –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They pled guilty because they were frightened. They went down. They were ushered into a building. Many of them were arrested without even going into the building.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You’d be okay with them receiving taxpayer dollars?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated. Now, with that being said, the, as I understand it, the weaponization fund was going to set up a group of people, people that could be picked by anybody, fair people, smart people, and they will go on an individual case basis.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Now, I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponization fund. I love the idea, because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden, he’s not smart enough to know what’s going on, but people that surrounded him, surrounded his beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, what they did to the lives of people, they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right, this is, just to be very clear, there’s no evidence of what you’re saying, but let me ask about Todd Blanche.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
There’s a lot of evidence.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask about Todd Blanche.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Listen — listen to me — listen to me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let’s talk about Todd Blanche.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
There’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, it’s not been presented in a court of a law.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
The election was rigged. It was a dirty election.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And it’s happening again right now in California.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— you’ve never presented evidence –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s happening right now in California
KRISTEN WELKER:
– that the 2020 election was rigged.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Right now, it’s look at what’s happening in California.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Where’s the evidence to that?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s four days –
KRISTEN WELKER:
The Republicans are doing well in California.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
In California, it’s, no they’re not. They’re dropping fast because it’s a rigged election. Let me tell you, it’s four days and they aren’t even close to coming up with the –
KRISTEN WELKER:
That’s how they count the votes in California.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Do you know why they’re doing that? Because they’re cheating on the election.
KRISTEN WELKER:
There’s — What? Do you have evidence to support that?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s– all I have to do is look. All I have to do is look.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But that’s not evidence.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And I listen. And I listen to people. And let’s see what happens.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But sir, that’s not evidence, and that’s how they count the votes in California–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Do you think it’s appropriate that they have an election and five days later, they’re nowhere close to picking a winner?
KRISTEN WELKER:
State and local officials acknowledge they are slow. They’re urging–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, they’re crooked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– they’re urging the votes to be counted quickly. That’s how they vote in California.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
To be fair, I’m not crooked. But let’s continue.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Really? Well, you play right into their hands then.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let’s continue.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let’s continue.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You play right into their hands with this stuff. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged. Do you know that I won an election in a landslide and I got 94% bad press.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You know why I got that?
KRISTEN WELKER:
– you’ve never presented –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because you have no credibility.
KRISTEN WELKER:
-evidence. But you’ve never presented evidence it was rigged. Let’s keep talking about, I want to talk about Todd Blanche.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You have more evidence, there’s more evidence than ever presented.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let’s talk about–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Your elections in this country –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– you went to court.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We’re like a third world country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But sir –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Your elections are crooked and you’re crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And so is ABC and CBS and CNN.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, let’s — please, I traveled all the way to Wisconsin.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I’ve sat in the rain with you–
KRISTEN WELKER:
I traveled all — I know. I traveled all the way–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I sat in the rain with you for an hour.
KRISTEN WELKER:
–to Wisconsin.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
On and off in the rain, and I’ve given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press, because you know what?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
A country can never be great with a dishonest press.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– we traveled all — listen. We traveled all the way to Wisconsin for this interview.