President Donald Trump (00:00):
They launched a couple of drones and one rocket, one mission at ships because they were in the Strait, which they have every right to be. And so, we hit them very hard last night, very, very. We'll probably hit them hard again tonight. I'll give them a little warning. We're going to hit them hard tonight. But we'll see how it all works out.
(00:21)
No, I'm not happy with them. For instance, we'll have a meeting and we'll talk about the denuclearization of Iran, because that's what the war is. It's not a war, it's really the denuclearization of Iran. And we'll have a meeting and we'll talk about just that, because my whole thing is not about regime change, it's not about... Although, I think it's regime change when you knock out the first group, the second group, and now you're on the third. I think that's maybe the ultimate regime change.
(00:50)
But that's not what it's about. It's about we don't want them to have nuclear weapons, and it's denuking or denuclearization. And I think we've made a lot of progress and they'll get out of the room. We'll talk about it, like we're here, they'll agree on everything, and then they'll go and have a news conference and say we never even talked about it. They're cuckoo. There's something wrong with these people. And for 47 years, they've been the bully of the Middle East, and they're not the bully anymore. They're not the bully anymore. And all we want, it's very simple, they can't have a nuclear weapon. That's what I'm there for.
Audience (01:26):
[inaudible 00:01:29]
Daniel (01:28):
President Trump, sir. President Trump.
President Donald Trump (01:30):
Because if they did, they'd use it, and we're not going to let that happen.
Daniel (01:32):
President Trump, sir.
President Donald Trump (01:33):
Daniel?
Daniel (01:33):
You've made a career making deals in very challenging situations. Speaking to President Zelenskyy, President Putin, in your view, sir, what is the most pragmatic pathway forward to finding a long-term peace deal?
President Donald Trump (01:46):
I just think they've got to make a deal. Look, this deal has been in the works for a long time. It's got the pluses, the minuses. They know what it is. He knows what it is better than anybody. And I just think it's sometimes... I used an analogy, and it sounds simple, but it's sort of true too. You have two kids in a park and they don't like each other and they start fighting. Sometimes, you have to let them fight, let them see that it's tough, it's tough, fighting is tough. And he's done an amazing job. Look, he's been very effective and he's had the best equipment, because he's had our equipment, and he's had great... But somebody has to use that equipment, and you have a lot of brave people that are using that equipment. And Russia, it's a big country, but it's a big force. Russia's always been a big fighting force.
(02:50)
But I really believe it's ready. It's very interesting because you'd almost say it's worse than ever, and maybe it isn't. Sometimes with war, and you study war, and I've studied it so long for years, long before I did this, sometimes it's when it gets to the worst... And I don't know that it's the worst right now. It's consistently bad. They lost 25,000 people, lost kids, young people last month, and we had a month, 35, two months ago. And I would say more Russians. But it's just they're people, they're people, and there's actually very little difference between the people, the Russians and Ukrainian people, and they can get along.
(03:37)
But it's a nasty war, thousands and thousands, mostly soldiers are being killed. The battlefields, I see pictures and it's horrible. He thinks it's horrible. We all think it's horrible. And the President wants to get it done, and I believe that President Putin wants to get it done, and that should be a good combination.
Audience (03:58):
[inaudible 00:04:00]
Interviewer 2 (04:02):
Mr. President, what is your assessment on Ukraine's strike on Russian oil refineries and military factories?
President Donald Trump (04:07):
Where are you from?
Interviewer 2 (04:08):
Ukraine.
President Donald Trump (04:12):
Phrase the question differently, please.
Interviewer 2 (04:15):
Ukraine delivered strikes on the Russian military factories and oil refineries and they ran out of gas.
President Donald Trump (04:25):
Marco, why don't you answer that? Because you're right in the middle of it.
Marco Rubio (04:28):
Yeah. No, I think what you're discussing is the ability of Ukraine to reach deep inside of Russia and conduct strikes.
Interviewer 2 (04:34):
Yeah, sure.
Marco Rubio (04:34):
I think that's one of the dynamics that's changed in this war over the last few months, and that is that the Russians are finding it more difficult to defend their own airspace. And what we hope that means is that it's going to create the space now to negotiate the end of this war.
President Donald Trump (04:46):
It's an escalation, but it's also an escalation that could help lead to an end.
Audience (04:51):
[inaudible 00:04:52]
Interviewer 3 (04:51):
What makes you think that Mr. Putin might be seeking for the settlement?
President Donald Trump (05:00):
So where are you from?
Interviewer 3 (05:02):
Radio Free Europe's Ukrainian Service. I'm from Ukraine.
President Donald Trump (05:04):
Okay, good. Because I talked to him. I talked to him, I talked to President Zelenskyy, and I think... That's all I've done my whole life, I made deals. I guess becoming president was making a deal, it was a lot of little individual things. In the end, it's making a deal. And that's what I do, and I do it well, and I know when people want to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal. And I do feel that President Zelenskyy would like to get back to rebuilding his country as opposed to-
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (05:36):
Of course.
President Donald Trump (05:36):
... having all of this death and destruction. Ukraine has tremendous potential. He understands that. We talk about that. He talks about that more than he talks about the war. To me, I think you might find that more exciting than the war. It's brutal. The other is the beauty of it. I think he'll build a great country. I think he's going to build it. We have a little stake in that country now because we have some land in that country, but we have minerals. It's among the wealthiest, it's among the best land anywhere in the world for rare earth.
Audience (06:12):
[inaudible 00:06:14]
President Donald Trump (06:14):
We have some rare earth. I look forward to taking advantage of it at the right time.
Audience (06:19):
[inaudible 00:06:22]
Interviewer 4 (06:22):
[inaudible 00:06:22] make Patriot missiles in-
President Donald Trump (06:23):
This guy, he's one of my favorite soldiers. I see him. He's central casting. You doing okay?
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yes.
President Donald Trump (06:31):
We see him at meetings. He's done a great job, great job.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
[inaudible 00:06:35]
President Donald Trump (06:37):
Great hero, actually.
Audience (06:37):
[inaudible 00:06:39]
President Donald Trump (06:42):
Go ahead, please.
Interviewer 4 (06:42):
Mr. President, will you allow Europe to make Patriot interceptors in Europe? Are you comfortable with licensing-
President Donald Trump (06:49):
About what?
Interviewer 4 (06:49):
Patriot interceptors to be made in Europe.
President Donald Trump (06:52):
And you're talking with respect to Ukraine? Well, we're going to talk about that. Look, it's a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon. It's the best. So I was saying we have an aircraft carrier which is one of the most beautiful in the world, it's one of the biggest, the Abraham Lincoln. And two months ago, we had a hundred... I told this story yesterday, we had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan. They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour, 111 missiles going to a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was knocked down pretty much mostly by Patriots, but by other means also, as you know.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (07:39):
Yeah.
President Donald Trump (07:39):
Other less expensive means. It's even better when you do that. But out of the 111 missiles, every one of them was shot down. It didn't hit the ship. And bad things happen when that happens. So think of that. Over a period of one hour, these missiles are coming at you, and every one of them shot down. So I think one of the things we're going to be talking about is, as you know, the companies, we have great power over the companies. Those companies that make the Patriot and make all of the great stuff, the Tomahawks, all of the great stuff, we have the best stuff. Many things, the Patriots, but we have many, many great things. You see that with Venezuela. You see it with Iran. Look, Iran has been wiped out. Iran, their Navy's gone, their Air Force is gone, everything's gone.
(08:26)
But one of the things I think we're going to be talking about today, a little birdie told me this, about the fact that we'll give them the right to make Patriots. We'll show them how to do it. It's very complex, actually, but you'll figure out the complexity quickly, and we're talking about that. The company that makes them, which is building now four plants, all of our companies will be able to do this in two to three months. If you order a Patriot, now you have to wait a long time for them. Same thing with Tomahawks. We have a lot of certain equipment, but with, they call it, the elite equipment-
President Donald Trump (09:00):
... equipment, but they call it the elite equipment. And you don't need elite equipment necessarily for a war. So one of the things we're going to be talking about is we're going to give a license to you to make patriots. That's pretty cool, right?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (09:16):
Yeah, [inaudible 00:09:16].
President Donald Trump (09:16):
This way you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. We said, "Make them yourself." We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll work out all right. Sure, they'll be thrilled. But they'll be able to do it. You'll be able to figure that out. Most countries couldn't do that. If I said that to most countries, they wouldn't know what I'm talking about. But this is a very ingenious group. And what I like about that, it's a defensive situation as opposed to an offensive. But I think one of the things you might want to be talking about is that. That's what I heard. Little birdie told me that. Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Can you clarify, does the end of the ceasefire mean that we are back to a full scale [inaudible 00:09:58]?
President Donald Trump (09:58):
Well, as far as I'm concerned, they violate the agreement every day. They lie, they cheat, they killed people. They've been killing people for 47 years. They knocked out the SS call. We lost what? 200 people, more. It was a long time ago. For 47 years, no president did anything about that. Well, Obama actually gave them vast amounts of money. You'd like this. He gave them a plane load of money, $1.7 billion in green cash. They loaded up a Boeing 757. Remember the old 750? It was a beautiful plane loaded up with cash. They took all the seats out, and they took all of the cash from Virginia, Maryland, and DC banks. They had no money. They took every ounce of cash, put it in, flew it to Iran, and gave them the money. I wonder what these guys thought of when the door opened, and cash fell out of this big plane, beautiful plane.
(11:02)
And then on top of that, they gave them billions and billions of dollars. And by the way, they gave it to the wrong country, frankly. You want to know the truth. And it began. That was pretty much the Obama deal, that was one of the worst tragedies that happened. That's what happened in the Middle East. That deal set back that whole situation. Frankly, they picked the wrong country. They picked the wrong country. JCPOC, what a terrible, what a terrible deal. I call it the Obama nuclear waste deal because what he did with that deal is he caused tremendous hardship in the Middle East. It was a terrible, terrible thing to do. And we've been just the opposite. Our deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon. His deal was a road to a nuclear weapon. They'll never build a nuclear weapon under our deal, but I don't know if we're going to have a deal.
(12:08)
We may just do it without a deal because, you know what? It's easier because these people, they lie and they cheat. And you have an agreement and they'll go outside. For instance, they agreed, well, we'll never have a nuclear weapon. They agreed. Then they go outside, they have a news conference where they leak that we never discussed the subject. Now who would believe we never discussed the subject? Because for me, that's 99.9% of what we're doing. It's denuclearization of Iran. So when you ask... Our guys can continue, Steve is great, and Jared, all the guys, they know him very well.
(12:46)
Yeah, actually they're working on your stuff too. I wonder which... I picked two beauties. You know what? We settled eight wars. I got a couple of beauties here. But Steve's great and Jared's great. They're the right guys, and we'll see what happens. But I will say this, Iran, they've misbehaved for 47 years. They've killed our soldiers, they've killed our people, and they've killed a lot of people all over the Middle East and elsewhere. And the roadside bomb was their preferred... The preferred weapon was by Soleimani, the roadside bomb, where it would explode under a truck.
(13:26)
We actually built trucks with floors, steel, this thick. And then all they did was they made bigger bombs. And we have young guys around, not walking around because they have no legs, but their legs were blown off, their arms were blown off, their face was blown off, and they live because of modern medicine. You can do anything, but they're living. They're living like in hell. Their whole life changed because of Iran. And that was 96% of the people that used that, they were made in Iran. And so we have a score to settle too.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
What about the Naval blockade, sir?
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Mr. President, you say that President Putin is ready to finish this war. What if he doesn't? Are you ready to put pressure on Russia? I know [inaudible 00:14:18].
President Donald Trump (14:20):
Well, we have a lot of pressure. We have a lot of pressure on President Putin. I don't think he likes what's going on. I don't think he likes. I don't think he's thrilled with what's happening. There's a lot of pressure on President Putin to get it done. I think there's pressure on everybody to get that on done. A lot of pressure.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
What's your security guarantee for Ukraine?
President Donald Trump (14:42):
The guarantee?
Speaker 5 (14:44):
Yeah, security guarantee for Ukraine.
President Donald Trump (14:45):
Well, the security guarantee you're talking about?
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Yeah.
President Donald Trump (14:48):
Not that we want to do it. We'll do it to save lives. Look, Ukraine's very far away. We have an ocean separating us. What I'm doing is I'm trying to save lives. A lot of lives are being lost. I also think that it's a country with great potential. I think if this kind of brainpower can go toward rebuilding the country instead of fighting a war, I think that country's going to do fantastically well. And likewise, Russia, look, they're devoting a lot of energy. A lot of energy. Do you have a question for President Putin, please? President, do you have a question for President Putin? Not Zelenskyy. Putin. What would you like to ask him? Because I'm going to ask him that question.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
I have a question. Last year you called Russia a paper tiger referring that they're not doing [inaudible 00:15:43].
President Donald Trump (15:42):
Who did I call?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (15:42):
Russian.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
I'm from [inaudible 00:15:45] Ukrainian media.
President Donald Trump (15:46):
No, no. Give us a question. Not for Zelenskyy. Give us a question for Putin. Because I'm speaking to him today. Give me a good, hard question.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
When will he end this war?
President Donald Trump (16:00):
That's a good question. I don't think I've ever asked him that question. I'm going to ask him that question.
Speaker 8 (16:07):
Mr. President, what's the status of a drone deal between the UN and Ukrainian?
President Donald Trump (16:12):
By the way, I will tell you, though, he's going to tell you that he wants it ended as soon as he can end it.
Speaker 8 (16:17):
Do you believe that?
President Donald Trump (16:19):
He wants to end it soon. And I ask him, and we talk. I talk to him a lot. I talk to him a little bit less, but the relationship is very good. But I talk to President Putin a lot, and he wants to end the war. And a lot of people don't believe that.
Speaker 9 (16:40):
What are President Putin's conditions for ending the war? Do you know what-
President Donald Trump (16:44):
Well, they were certain conditions. They were a little bit different. I think they're changing. I think they're probably getting a little bit better toward some of the things that you'd like. It's been tougher in Russia. It's been a lot tougher than it was supposed to be. In all fairness, this was supposed to be a... This is a war that would've never happened if I were president. Would've never happened. You'd have a full country. Just a shame that it happened. But no, this is something that I think Zelenskyy wants to do and Putin wants to do. They want to get it done. Ask the president that question. Ask him.
Speaker 10 (17:22):
[foreign language 00:17:23].
President Donald Trump (17:22):
Go ahead.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (17:33):
No, I don't know what conditions Putin now wants for this peace. So I think that they are changing in any way because at the very beginning of full-scale war, he was stronger. And now I think he's losing initiative on the battlefield, I think, his army. But that's why I think that, because of technologies, because it's not the question now of number of people. Our heroic people are very important. But now it's not the question of-
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (18:00):
... people are very important. Now it's not a question of only number of people. First of all, people and technologies, people with technologies. Now, I think that we have better steps, technological steps, further than Russia, maybe quicker, because they also... They produce a lot of different things which are tough, strong against us, but we are quicker, and that's why I think that now initiative moved to our hands. Not totally, but moved. We are trying to move this war to the sky from the battlefield. That's why we now began to control the battlefield. This is very important. It's difficult when you have less people to move them back, but we found another way. How to do it? To cut their logistic for their army. It's about weapon, petrol, diesel without basic human losses. That is the difference between, us by the way. Russia is-
President Donald Trump (19:05):
He's got a lot of support. I just left a room where they have mostly European countries, and they have great support for Ukraine, and really great support. One of the things... You talk about questions for Putin, but one of the things that I talked to him about was, " Where would you want to meet?" And he said, "Ideally in Moscow." I said, "You're not going to meet in Moscow. It just doesn't work. You can't do that." But he'll meet, and Zelenskyy's going to meet, and something's going to happen that's going to be positive. And I hope it's going to happen soon, because number one, lives, but number two, building your country, because it's got a tremendous future, in my opinion. Yeah.
Speaker 11 (19:58):
Where would it be held, and when would that happen?
President Donald Trump (20:00):
I don't know, I don't know. President Putin said, "I would love to meet in Moscow," and I said, "I don't think..." I have to put myself in his position. I don't know that he'd go to Moscow. Maybe he would. Would you go to Moscow?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (20:16):
It's difficult. There are a lot of Ukrainian drones there. It's dangerous for me. It would be dangerous.
President Donald Trump (20:18):
He doesn't want to get hit by a drone.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (20:18):
Europe not as-
President Donald Trump (20:26):
It's hard to go [inaudible 00:20:27]. I thought I'd answered that question for him. I didn't want to ask him that question.
Speaker 11 (20:38):
Mr. President, how to ensure that Ukraine will not be attacked again by Russia?
President Donald Trump (20:42):
What about?
Speaker 11 (20:43):
How to make sure that Ukraine will not be attacked by Russia again?
President Donald Trump (20:46):
Well, look... You mean in the future?
Speaker 11 (20:48):
Yes, yeah.
President Donald Trump (20:48):
You mean after there's an agreement? Well, we're going to work on a security guarantee that... And Russia respects us a lot, and we're going to work on some kind of a... If we can make the right deal, we'll help Europe. Europe is going to be watching it, but we're going to be helping them, and we'll work on some kind of a security package, and we'll make sure. I don't think that's going to happen. I think that if we make a deal, Russia is going to be very happy, and they're going to get on with other things. By the way, as a country too, they have tremendous potential. They have tremendous land, valuable land that they can do things within. They have tremendous potential, but I don't think it's going to happen. I don't see that question as, "Oh, they're going to attack again." I don't see it at all. I think they've had it. This has been going on for almost five years, right?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (21:41):
Yeah.
President Donald Trump (21:42):
Who would have thought? It's a tribute, because it's a bigger country, strong country, and it's an amazing tribute. Anything else?
Speaker 11 (21:53):
With the Patriot missiles, President Zelensky has said that Ukraine needs Patriot missiles now. Over 50 Ukrainians have died in recent airstrikes just in the last few days. So in addition to these production licenses, which will take time, would you consider-
President Donald Trump (22:06):
Not that much time, actually.
Speaker 11 (22:07):
Would you consider providing any to Ukraine immediately?
President Donald Trump (22:09):
We have Patriots, but we don't have that many. We need them for ourselves too. Some, yeah. I mean some, but I think they can produce them pretty quickly. Once we explain it, we'll bring the company here. You'll work with the company. They have a great ability to produce weapons, pretty complex weapons.
Speaker 11 (22:35):
Will you go to Ukraine?
President Donald Trump (22:39):
Will I go to Ukraine?
Speaker 11 (22:40):
Will you go to Ukraine?
President Donald Trump (22:40):
I would, yeah.
Speaker 11 (22:42):
Do you have any deadline that you want to reach-
President Donald Trump (22:43):
I'd rather have the war be over.
Speaker 11 (22:45):
Yeah. Do you have any deadline?
President Donald Trump (22:47):
I'm not sure Secret Service would be thrilled right now. But you know what? I would. I would like to go. I think the people are incredible. It would be nice to get it before any more damage is done, to be honest. It's such a beautiful city, right? And yeah, I would go to Ukraine at the right time.
Speaker 11 (23:08):
Do you have any deadlines? Do you have any deadline when you want to reach a deal between Ukraine and Russia? Do you have any deadline in that regard?
President Donald Trump (23:16):
No, I don't have a... You can't have a deadline. It's too much going on. But I think you're going to have a deal. I think I've been very good. We had certain deals, like Azerbaijan and some other deals that were made, and they've been going on for 32 years, and they said it's an impossible thing to get them solved. Eight different deals. Even in the Congo, it was... Think of it. You have the Congo and Rwanda. That was 14 million people dead, a lot of them with machetes. It's horrible. We got that one solved. Or it flares up every once in a while, must say, but we got deals done that weren't doable. But if you look at, well, India and Pakistan, they were at it. We get them done. And when we get them done, I find that people are not anxious to go back into it. I think we'll have... You once mentioned the word security guarantee in the Oval Office, right?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (24:15):
Yeah.
President Donald Trump (24:16):
And I think they're going to need some kind of a security guarantee, but we're going to work with them. It's important. I think he thinks that's a very important thing.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (24:23):
Yeah, the security guarantees are very important, and-
President Donald Trump (24:26):
And they'll live by it.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (24:27):
... partially, president said about Patriots and license it. Patriot system is the best in the world for today. The best anti-ballistic system. So we used a lot of-
President Donald Trump (24:37):
It's the best.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (24:38):
Yeah, they're the best one. And we checked everything during the war, so this is true. So with all respect to other partners, we are thankful for all the systems. Patriots are the-
President Donald Trump (24:50):
Well, they had different systems in Venezuela. So Venezuela had systems that didn't work. We didn't have one plane shot down. We didn't have one. We had one helicopter operator who was incredible. He landed perfectly, and his leg was almost blown off. And we gave him the Congressional Medal of Honor, because very few people could have landed that. You land them with your feet, really, more than anything else. And he landed, and he was really in bad shape. And at the State of the Union, we gave him... He was a handsome guy, big handsome guy, but we gave him the Congressional Medal of Honor at the State of the Union. So look, he wants to get it done, and we're going to get it done.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
What's the status on a drone deal between Ukraine and the US?
President Donald Trump (25:36):
And what's that?
Speaker 11 (25:37):
What's the status of a drone deal between Ukraine and the US?
President Donald Trump (25:41):
Well, we would buy their drones, and we make drones. We make great drones. But they have an ability to make a lot of them, which is... Right, Marco? Amazing that, in a war situation, they make them. They make them in basements. They make them wherever the hell you have a little shelter. Even if you don't have shelter, I think I suspect, right? It's an amazing ability. Very few... Well, that's why I say with the Patriots, they would be able to do it. Most countries would not be able. They don't have the talent. You have very talented people. So yeah, I think we're going to make that deal. If we made that deal, we'd have great protection. I love the protection. Think if you had a lot of Patriots, you'd never be hit in, as an example, in Kyiv, where they get hit with missiles. Like what I said about the Abraham Lincoln, the missiles would be shot down. And I think you'd start making them pretty quickly, right? You like the idea?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (26:41):
Of course. [inaudible 00:26:42].
President Donald Trump (26:42):
I think everybody likes that one.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (26:43):
We need it.
Speaker 11 (26:51):
As part of security guarantees, are you ready to close the skies in case Russia attacks again?
President Donald Trump (26:56):
What?
Speaker 11 (26:56):
To close the skies over Ukraine in case Russia...
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (27:00):
It's meant that-
Speaker 11 (27:01):
As a part of security guarantees, are you-
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (27:02):
... air defense and jets.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (27:04):
[inaudible 00:27:01] when you use jets.
President Donald Trump (27:06):
If it's necessary, yeah. Look, I tell you, when we have a deal, we're going to have a deal, security guarantee or no security guarantee. If we have a deal, we're going to have a deal. We're not going to have to worry about what you're saying. We're going to have a deal. I think if we come to a solution, which I think we will, we're going to have a deal. Now, we want to make sure the deal sticks. Some people don't think it will. I think it will. I'm sure it will. I'm not sure it will with Iran. If we make a deal with Iran, I'm not sure that will stick.
Speaker 12 (27:35):
May I ask you [inaudible 00:27:36]-
Speaker 13 (27:35):
Sir, on Iran-
President Donald Trump (27:37):
Because I found them to be very dishonorable people. Yeah.
Speaker 13 (27:42):
[inaudible 00:27:42] reimposing the naval blockade-
President Donald Trump (27:43):
I don't find that with him and I mean I don't want to upset him, but everything I've done with President Putin has been okay. It's been good. He's going to say ... But I would expect you to say that, but it's good. I don't think anything's going to be broken and we're going to do a security guarantee in case it is. But with Iran, 47 years, this should have been done by another president a long time ago or somebody else, another country. But they got stronger and stronger and now they're weak.
Speaker 13 (28:15):
Are you going to reimpose the Naval blockade on Iranian [inaudible 00:28:17]?
President Donald Trump (28:17):
No, don't forget we knocked out 159 ships in one week. That's good even for you, right? 159, their entire Navy is at the bottom of the sea. And now they have little boats, little tiny boats that go around. We knocked about 28 of them out last night with the same weapon we use for the drug people. Drugs are down by the way. Drugs by sea are down 97%. Meaning nobody wants to get into those boats and take drugs into ... They're down 97%. And we're using the same thing for the mine boats that they like to drop mines in and we hit a lot of them last night, like 28. We knocked out 28 boats last night. Little ones. That's all they have is little ones.
Speaker 13 (29:02):
Are you going to try to take out more tonight?
President Donald Trump (29:05):
Will we go tonight? Normally I wouldn't tell you. I wouldn't tell you, but you know what? There's not a thing they can do about it. So the answer is probably.
Speaker 14 (29:15):
President Trump [inaudible 00:29:17].
President Donald Trump (29:18):
[inaudible 00:29:19] terrible military threat. He just said he's going to the ... Yeah. He says they deserve it.
Speaker 14 (29:24):
President Trump [inaudible 00:29:27]. President Trump, what is the effectiveness of last night's attack? What message does that send to what's left of the Iranian [inaudible 00:29:34]?
President Donald Trump (29:33):
Which attack are you talking about?
Speaker 14 (29:34):
The attack that you guys had on Iran last night. The strikes last night.
President Donald Trump (29:38):
Oh, I think it has a tremendous impact. Well, first of all, we took out additional ... They tried to rebuild their radar and they had about 60% built. Now they have to start all over again. Look, we're not attacking at the highest level. The highest level are the bridges, which we can knock down. I would say in one day we knocked down every single bridge in Iran. There's not a thing they can do about it. Their electric manufacturing facilities, right? They're electric plants where they make their electricity there. If we have to, we'll take them out. I don't want to do that, but if we have to, we'll take them out.
(30:21)
They have desalinization plants. We'll take them out if we have to. I hate to do that. That's probably the one I would like not to do least. We attacked Kharg Island last night. We knocked out a piece. I said, "Don't touch the oil because maybe we'll take over Kharg Island." We may take over Kharg Island. There's not a thing they can do about it. But I said, "Don't hit the pipes, just hit everything else." And they hit it. They may hit it again tonight.
(30:49)
So as per your question, normally I'm not that way, but they really deserve it because they're saying they want to make a deal, but they don't. They asked for a timeout. They wanted to go to the funeral of Khomeini and I said, "Give it to them." And they start shooting missiles. I mean, it's a crazy thing. Now we did kill them.
(31:13)
So I guess you have to look at it that way. But the funeral took place and they wanted to have a period of time. And they also asked that we not kill them. And we said, "We're not going to kill you." They were worried we'd kill him during the funeral. If you can believe it, what a crazy ... Did you ever think I'd be doing this for a living, Marco? Did anybody ever think I'm doing ... Maybe Pete, but this wasn't supposed to be for me. Pete loved this stuff from day one.
(31:45)
But they said to us, "Please don't kill us during the funeral." I said, "I won't." And we didn't. We didn't do anything. In fact, we made it safe for them actually. And what happens? They try and knock out two ships, [inaudible 00:32:01] and I guess Kuwait. Kuwaiti? Oh no, Katari. In addition, it's really three.
Pete Hegseth (32:06):
Three. Yes, sir.
President Donald Trump (32:07):
So you had three of them. I don't know. I just don't know with them. A lot of people say they're very dishonorable people and they can't keep a deal. So we'll see. Now as to whether or not Steve Witkoff, Jared and JD and everybody working on that will talk, I guess they could talk, but I'm not seeing it with them with the people. My whole life is deals. I don't see it. I don't see it with them.
Speaker 12 (32:35):
[inaudible 00:32:35].
President Donald Trump (32:35):
And there may be a big attack tonight and it'll knock out a lot of stuff. We don't knock out nothing. We knock out a lot. Pete, do you want to tell them about last night?
Pete Hegseth (32:49):
Yes, sir. Last night, as you said, a lot of small craft that they were trying to harass shipping with. So that was a big part of what we targeted. Underground facilities where they were storing drones or missiles, coastal defense sites, radar sites, surveillance sites, anything used to harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. So anything they thought they had rebuilt or capability they were using was a target last night. And tonight, if we need to, on your order, Mr. President, we will hit even more and even deeper because that's a consequence.
President Donald Trump (33:19):
And we may put down the blockade. We may put it back, the blockade. And it'll only be a blockade for Iran. Anybody else can have whatever they want. Now, of course they'll drop some mines if they can, if they can do it. But it's hard because we're taking out those little boats now with the same weapon we used to take out the drug lords and the boats coming in by sea. Think of it. 97%. For years we had fentanyl and all the other drugs coming in from different countries, including Venezuela. And they'd arrest them, they'd bring them to a court, they'd be released and they'd be back on another boat the next ... 97%. What was done in the past had no impact. 97% drugs down coming in by sea. And now we're going to start doing it by land. The land is easy but we had to do sea first. And nobody ...
(34:13)
I mean, I think the 3% of the people that still do that, I think they're the bravest people in the world. Maybe we should probably give them a medal for bravery. And we're using the same exact missile to take out the mine drop. They call them mine droppers. But we have mine sweepers. And one of the things that came up today is that European nation, the NATO group, they're sending mine sweepers. We don't need them now. We have pretty much the mines are cleared up, but they'll probably drop some more. They're evil people. They're sick people. They're mentally disturbed people. And it should have been done 47 years ago. Thank you everybody.
Speaker 15 (34:54):
[inaudible 00:34:57].
President Donald Trump (35:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 15 (35:05):
Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you. [inaudible 00:35:08].