And Natalie, we're just getting word that President Trump is holding a press conference inside the Oval Office. We just got some fresh sound from that. Let's listen in.
Mr. President, on Iran, how confident are you that there will be a signing this weekend because you have come close to sealing a deal, but at the last minute it has fallen in.
It'll be soon, maybe this weekend.
And has the Supreme Leader approved this deal, sir?
I understand the answer is yes. And when the deal is signed, is the United States going to immediately lift the blockade?
Yes, that's part of the deal.
We'll have oil prices dropping like Iraq.
And sir, have you actually secured an agreement on the discussions about the nuclear material and the nuclear negotiations?
Conceptually on that, and nobody's getting close to it because it's buried under a mountain base. Basically, there's B2 bombers.
But has Iran committed to not pursuing a nuclear weapon or will there be more negotiations on that down the road?
They will not have a nuclear weapon. They've agreed to that. There will be no, which is the whole reason, which is a big part of the reason for the agreement. They will not only not have, they will not purchase or develop in any way, shape, or form a nuclear weapon. They will not have a nuclear weapon.
Mr. President, follow up on that. You have said before that Iran and the United States were close to a deal. It has not happened yet. Why are you so convinced that this time is different?
Because they've taken a pounding. They've taken a pounding like very few people could take, and they want to make the deal a lot more than I do. We could have had it done the other way, I guess, but it would have taken longer. They got hit very hard recently, as you know, and I don't like to have to do things that way, but I felt it was necessary. It's a great deal for the United States and for the Middle East, and I think ultimately great for Iran because they'll be able to build up their country. I really believe it's a regime change because I find these people to be much more rational than the people that are no longer with us. We knocked out the first team of leadership, the second team of leadership. There's a different group, a different level, and I think it's frankly a smarter level, and it's a level that has reason. They've all approved the deal. Everybody's approved the deal. Now we'll get it finished up, and hopefully that'll be done. We will not have Iran having a nuclear weapon, which is very important to these people behind me. We can talk about fishing. There won't be anybody to fish. The fish will still be around, they're probably going to be affected too. We're not going to let it happen. So, Iran will essentially, most important paragraph to me, Iran will in no way, shape, or form have a nuclear weapon or purchase a nuclear war.
But is this just a concept of that agreement when it comes to nuclear? You said this was just a concept of that agreement. So, is this just essentially setting the stage for deeper talks on nuclear?
It's a very strong memorandum of understanding that is a little conceptual, but it's something that's going to get done. And if it doesn't get done for any reason, which I can't imagine that not happening, they want to sign it as much as I do or more, I would say they want to sign it more, maybe a lot more, but it's a very detailed memorandum of understanding also agreed to by many other countries that have great influence over them, and everybody wants it done. So, it's going to get done.
Yesterday that Iran may be tapping along the US. Those were the words that you used. What makes you believe that they are sincere this time in wanting to pursue the deal?
Level of enthusiasm beginning at time, and we were hitting them very hard for the last three days. We're going to hit them even harder tonight. They knew that. We told them exactly what we were going to do. We explained it exactly because they had no navy. They had no air force. They had no any weapons of detection. They had nothing. And so we could tell them exactly what, there wasn't a thing they could have done about it. And we won this war militarily very early on. The only thing we didn't win was the fake news was, you know, no matter if they could have raised the white flag of surrender, the fake news would say, 'Oh, they did wonderfully.' They didn't do wonderfully. But you know what? They've got a chance to build a country. Their country is largely demolished. Again, their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Everything's gone. Their leadership is gone many times over. Even many people from this leadership is gone. But we found them to be rational, and they're going to make a deal. You know, and I'll tell you what, it's a great deal. You know why it's a great deal? Because they will never have a nuclear weapon.
Is there a specific amount of time that has to pass between this memorandum of understanding and a final deal being done?
Well, we hope it's going to go relatively quickly, but it's...
I mean, the streets are going to open immediately. It's fun signing. Maybe it'll be Saturday or Monday.
Is there a deadline though to get from this to a final deal?
We think it's going to go pretty quickly. I don't want to say a deadline because if I say a deadline, you'll say, 'Oh, you didn't meet the deadline.' You know, this is like, it's not going to matter much because it's going to get signed and the strait is open. But the streets have been open for a number of months already and you just didn't know about it. You know, you as reporters weren't able to get it. I just announced yesterday that we brought a lot of ships through. Nobody knew about it. I guess we did a pretty good job, Peter, right? But we brought many, many ships across and millions, hundreds of millions of barrels of oil brought across.
And there wasn't a thing that anybody could have done about that. Yeah.
