In a wide-ranging interview on the Pod Force One program recorded Tuesday at the White House, President Donald Trump said he was not angry but “a little bit perturbed” that Israel is “constantly fighting with Lebanon.”
Asked about reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “tricked” him into a confrontation with Iran, Trump pushed back. He said he first heard that assertion recently and disputed it, arguing he initiated action because he believes preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is too important to ignore. “I mean, I’m the one that started it… because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump indicated he has not yet decided whether to accept a diplomatic deal with Iran or to press a military campaign alongside Israel. When questioned about what a bombing campaign would accomplish, the president replied “certainty,” adding bluntly that “there wouldn’t be any b——-” and suggesting such strikes could be carried out without putting U.S. boots on the ground. “Now I have to make a determination: do we sign a deal or do we do it the other way? And the other way is not nice,” he said.
He again asserted that Iran has agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons, while acknowledging that the situation could change over time. When asked about his changing positions on Iran and foreign policy generally — and whether those shifts were part of his “art of the deal” approach — Trump said, “It’s just the way I am,” and added that “things change.”
Trump said he would be willing to meet Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, saying, “Yeah, I’d like to meet him. I’d like to meet everybody… We probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works.”
On the possibility the Strait of Hormuz blockade could persist through Labor Day, the president said he thought it was unlikely but did not rule it out. He reiterated his belief that once the conflict ends, gas prices will fall quickly and said the broader U.S. economy is “doing very well, other than this.”
Pressed about timing, Trump said he could not have waited until after the midterm elections to act because preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon was too urgent to delay.
Reporting by ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Molly Nagle.