Transcription
I'll start, as we often do here at the Department of War, with the bottom line up front, for the world to hear and the press to actually admit that the United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime's military in a way the world has never seen before.
Never before has a modern, capable military, which Iran used to have, been so quickly destroyed and made combat ineffective, devastated. We said it would not be a fair fight, and it has not been.
As I stated during our first press conference on day two, that was 10 short days ago, the combination of the world's two most powerful air forces, is unprecedented and unbeatable. Between our air force and that of the Israelis, over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck. That's well over 1,000 a day. No other combination of countries in the world can do that.
So today, as we speak, we fly over the top of Iran and Tyrron. Fighters and bombers all day picking targets as they choose. As our intelligence gets better and better and more refined, looking up, the IRGC and Iranian regime sees only two things on the side of aircraft. The stars and stripes and the Star of David, the evil regime's worst nightmare.
Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no navy. Their missiles, their missile launchers and drones being destroyed or shot out of the sky. Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one-way attack drones yesterday down 95%. And as the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Harm. Something we're dealing with. We have been dealing with it and don't need to worry about it. We're on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before.
But it's not just that Iran doesn't have a functioning air force or that their entire navy is at the bottom of the Persian Gulf or their missile force is shrinking daily. Even more importantly, they also don't have the ability to build more. That's the most important component I'd like to emphasize today. Soon and very soon, all of Iran's defense companies will be destroyed. For example, as of two days ago, Iran's entire ballistic missile production capacity, every company that builds every component of those missiles has been functionally defeated, destroyed. Buildings, complexes, and factory lines all across Iran destroyed. So, we're shooting down and destroying what missiles they still have in stock, but more importantly, ensuring that they have no ability to make more. Their production lines, their military plants, their defense innovation centers defeated.
Iran's leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they've gone underground, cowering. That's what rats do. We know the new so-called not-so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday, a weak one actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement. He called for unity. Apparently, killing tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of unity. Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father dead. He's scared. He's injured. He's on the run. And he lacks legitimacy. It's a mess for them. Who's in charge? Iran may not even know.
With every passing hour, we know and we know they know that the military capabilities of their evil regime are crumbling. They can barely communicate, let alone coordinate. They're confused and we know it. Our response. We will keep pressing. We will keep pushing. Keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies.
Yet, some in this crew in the press just can't stop. Allow me to make a few suggestions. People look up at the TV and they see banners. They see headlines. I, I used to be in that business and I know that everything is written intentionally. For example, a banner or a headline, "Mideast War Intensifies," splashing on the screen the last couple of days alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit because that's what they do. What should the banner read instead? How about "Iran Increasingly Desperate"? Because they are. They know it and so do you, if it can be admitted.
Or more fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do. Hold the Strait hostage. CNN doesn't think we thought of that. It's a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.
Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday. "War Widening." Here's a real headline for you for an actual patriotic press. How about "Iran Shrinking, Going Underground"? See, you see Iran's leaders are hiding in bunkers and moving into civilian areas. The only thing that is widening is our advantage. Not to mention our Gulf partners stepping up even more now going on the offense and have always been with us on the defense with collective and integrated air defenses. Our will, it is unshakable. Our options maximized and our capabilities still building. We're going up, they're going down.
As I said from the start, President Trump holds the cards. He'll determine the pace, the tempo, and the timing of this conflict. His hand firmly on the wheel as well as on the throttle setting. America first, peace through strength in action.
From day one, as our nation expects and the president demands, our warriors have fought with lethality, precision, and rapid innovation. In fact, today will be yet again the highest volume of strikes that America has put over the skies of Iran and Tyrron. The number of sorties and number of bomber pulses, the highest yet ramping up and only up. And quantity has a quality of its own as we continue to ramp up. Every tool of AI, of cyber, of space, EW, counter UAS, you name it, we're employing it. Blinding, confusing, and deceiving our enemy because we know who the good guys are here. And the American people do, too. And that makes my job simple. I serve God, the troops, the country, the Constitution, and the President of the United States, and answer only to those all in service of victory on the battlefield and the military objectives that we've laid out from day one. Defeat the missiles, missile launchers, and defense industrial base, which I laid out today. Defeat the Navy, and deny Iran the ability to have a nuclear weapon. Clear, decisive, achievable.
And Admiral Cooper knows, the SEMCOM commander who we spent a couple of hours with last night, that in pursuit of those objectives, we have his back in every way. His commanders know that, and so do the troops in harm's way. Admiral Cooper gets what he needs, the assets, the authorities, the munitions, you name it. We will stop at nothing to win.
War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC135 tanker, um, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them. And as I have with all of them, as we have, we will greet those heroes at Dover and their sacrifice will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission. But war in this context and in pursuit of peace is necessary. Which is why each day on bended knee, we continue to appeal to heaven, to Almighty God's providence to watch over and give special skill and confidence to our leaders and to our warriors. To those warriors who this nation prays for every single day. I hear from all of you out there who pray for them every day. Stay on bended knee and pray for them. I continue to say to them, Godspeed. May the Lord bless you and keep you and keep going. Mr. Chairman, over to you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us today. Uh, before I start with an update, I also want to address the tragic loss of our KC135 refueling aircraft yesterday. The incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission. And again, was not the result, as SenCom has said, was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. We're still treating this as an active rescue and recovery operation. As SenCom announced this morning, four airmen have been recovered, and the Air Force and US Central Command will provide updates as information becomes available. Please keep these brave airmen, their families, friends, and units in your thoughts in the coming hours and days. Our service members make an incredible sacrifice to go forward and do the things that the nation asks of them. It's a reminder of the true cost of the dedication and commitment of the joint force. We're also aware of a fire on board the USS Gerald R. Ford. We're thinking about the crew there who are injured in the fire. We believe and hope that everyone will be okay and we're grateful for that. And for any further questions on that, we'd refer you to NavScent or to the Navy.
This morning we enter the 13th day of Operation Epic Fury and we continue to make progress towards our military objectives. As the secretary said, today will be our heaviest day of kinetic fires across the operating area. SENCOM continues to attack ballistic missile and drone capabilities so that they are no longer a threat to US forces, our bases, or our partners. Uh, they're continuing to destroy the Iranian Navy to ensure freedom of navigation. Uh, and this means going after uh Iran's mine-laying capability and destroying their ability to attack commercial vessels. And we're targeting their defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild the capabilities that can harm America's uh interests uh or our partners in the future. As Admiral Cooper uh said in his update on Wednesday, Iranian combat power continues to decline as a result of the continued strikes. As the secretary talked about, we've attacked over 6,000 targets and our strike packages continue to launch every hour and we've maintained an unprecedented number of uh sorties up over ahead of Iran. Sentcom is now persistently over the enemy and a result we've seen a reduction in missile and one-way attack fires. As the secretary said, in less than two weeks, we've rendered the Iranian Navy combat ineffective and continue to attack naval vessels, including all of their Solommani-class warships, which were armed with anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft weapons. We've made progress, but Iran still has the capability to harm friendly forces and commercial shipping, and our work on this effort continues.
But I want to make something clear. The only thing preventing commercial uh traffic and flow through the straits right now, which there is some through the straits, is is Iran. They are the belligerents here holding holding the straits uh closed, although there is some traffic moving through there. We've made it a priority to target Iran's mine-laying enterprise, uh their mine layers, the naval bases, and depots in addition to the missiles that could influence the straits. And SenCom continues to attack those efforts. And we continue to make progress on the industrial base to include factories, weapons warehouses that are stored in, and we will continue to do so in the coming days, especially today.
Now, as I often do, I want to share a little bit about our incredible joint force. Today I'm going to talk about our incredible artillery force comprised of American soldiers and Marines who've been sinking ships, destroying depots, and launching Army Tactical Missile Systems or ATACMS, Precision Strike Missiles or PRSMs, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems or HIMARS. From outside Iran, our Army and Marine artillerymen are hitting sites that Iran relies on to project power beyond their borders and protect our deployed. In just the first 13 days of this operation, our artillery forces have made history. They fired the first Precision Strike Missiles ever used in combat, reaching deep into enemy territory. They've used Army ATACMS to sink multiple ships, including a submarine. And they've done all of this with the precision and determination that comes from relentless training and trust in each other and in their weapon systems.
Yesterday I had the incredible honor and privilege of speaking with some of our young soldiers from the Third Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The unit and the crew that fired the first Precision Strike Missiles. The soldiers I met came from all over this great country, New York, Texas, Delaware, California. One had been in the Army only 6 months and been in the unit for two months and was already deployed. He was the youngest at 20, but you would not know it from the way that they talked about their mission. The others were 22 and 28 years old. They spoke with a sense of calm, pride, purpose, and clarity that tells you clearly they understand the weight of what they're doing and the people who depend on them. I asked him to walk me through a fire mission. I asked not just what they do, but what they feel, especially those first crew members uh on this particular mission. These soldiers basically live in these vehicles behind us. The cab very tight. Two folks sit next to each other with the crew commander behind them. It's jammed inside there with their personal weapons and kit. Um, and they sit and wait for a fire mission. And when that fire mission comes, they close the armored doors and begin to program the systems. Uh, they then throw three simple toggle switches and 10 to 15 feet behind them, a rocket motor ignites and the round is headed uh downrange to do the nation's work. I asked these youngsters, these young awesome Americans, "What does that feel like?" And one of them just looked at me and said, "It's awesome." No drama, no hesitation in the middle of the day, in the middle of the night, in the sun, the rain, and the snow. Flawless execution. Their Marine counterparts are out there doing the same thing every night. Same work, same pressure, same expectations, same results. And we hand tremendous and enormous responsibility to these young Americans. And they carry it with a level of maturity, grit, professionalism, and tenacity that makes me incredibly proud to be a part of their joint force. Their parents and families would and should be incredibly proud. And their leaders and I trust them to do the deeds that they must do in difficult circumstances every single time.
I also want to touch today a moment uh I want to touch for a moment today on their leadership. These young Americans are led by extraordinary young leaders out at the tactical edge. Yesterday, the battery commander and her NCO were there with this crew on the same video screen. The two of them hardly said a word. They didn't have to. In their eyes uh and in particular the commander's eyes, you could see the quiet trust and confidence she had in these soldiers and the rest of their battery. It came through loud and clear and we appreciate their leadership. When I asked these soldiers yesterday, "What is it that you need from the secretary and I?" they looked at each other, paused for a moment, and looked back at me and said, "More rounds, sir." It was awesome. So, thank you to those soldiers and Marines out on the firing line supporting our mission. And thank you to their families. Our joint force will continue today to deliver dynamic fires against the enemy from the land, sea, and air. We remain deeply grateful for their service. And it for the third time today, I'll mention that today will be our busiest day. This mission remains complex, dangerous, and difficult. And every service member has a family waiting for them to return home. And I want to thank all of the families today who are supporting their deployed forces. And those doing the work here in the states.
On a personal note today, I also want to thank the joint staff and the team that I have the pleasure of working with, some of them right here in this room. They are working 24 hours a day to deliver the options that we must to the secretary and to the president. Today, as I close, I ask uh that we remember our fallen and those participating in the recovery operations to bring home our lost KC135 crew. That we keep those service members and their families in their thoughts and prayers. Those are very, very, very tough days when that knock comes on the door for people on both sides of the door. Again, thank you to our deployed. Thank you to uh our fallen and to their families and to the joint force.
Well, Mr. President, uh with a lot's going on today. I I guess you knew about the uh the looks to be a terrorist attack over at Old Dominion University. Uh, it looks to be a guy that was in jail uh according to reports for um he was a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, convicted in 2017 of providing support for ISIS. And then he goes and commits this uh this murder today.
>> Yeah.
>> Followed by one in Michigan. They attack a synagogue. They plow into a building of a preschool entrance where 140 kids are inside. Thankfully, some great security forces were able to take this guy down. It looks like he's from uh Dearborn, Michigan. Uh, and it looks like his car's registered to someone in Lebanon. What are your thoughts about this?
>> Well, it's been going on for a long time. It's a disgrace. They're six. They're really demented people and uh has been going on for a long time. They come into the country, they sneak in. You know, we have a solid border now. We have a border that's 100% nine months nobody coming in but they came in and they came in a lot through Biden and they came in through other presidents frankly and it's a it's a disgrace but what we took in over the last four years four years preceding my take in because we we had that border pretty well wrapped up within 3 months but it and he could have done the same thing we took in 25 million people and many of those people came from bad places so it's uh it's a shame. When you hear about these things, it's a shame. Very sad.
>> So then you see the attack in in in New York City, a 17 or an 18 year old 18 and 19 year old decide to make an IED and just throw it towards Gracie Mansion uh and write get a piece of paper and say, "Yeah, I'm this is about ISIS."
>> I mean, how do you get into the mindset of this? How do you stop?
>> They're sick people and uh a lot of them were let in here. They shouldn't have been let in. Others are just bad. They go bad. Something wrong. There's something wrong there.
>> So,
>> the genetics are not exactly
>> Well, they're not exactly your genetic.
>> It's one of those problems, Brian. It's a It's a terrible thing and it happens and it happens and it happens too often.
>> So, uh, bring it up to today, you know, uh, there's a lot of Iranians over 700 uh over 1,700 came to our border over the four years of President Biden. Over 700 are in. You mentioned the other day that you believe you know where the sleeper cells are, these Iranian sleeper cells. Um, if you know where they are, can we start going offensively after them legally?
>> Very carefully. Got to be a little bit careful in a lot of ways. A lot of good people, too. You know, it's like that's the problem. You got a lot of good people, but we're watching them very, very carefully. We have them under watch. Now when you say that uh you say 1,700 could be a lot more than that came in but nobody knows because you had so many Biden where nobody has any idea where they came from and nobody was asking where they came from.
>> I I know and you got the gotaways those are the ones who clearly didn't want to get caught and you just get the back of their heads.
>> Those are the ones that often times are the worst.
>> One of the big stories was uh the concern about Iran having one of those one-way suicide drones somewhere hitting in California. Are you worried about that? And if so, what will we do if that does happen?
>> I don't worry about it because if you did, you wouldn't be able to function. Okay? So, you can't worry. You have to do something. And we watch everything at a level that no, it's never been watched. Our country has never been watched over like this ever before. Uh, what what Joe Biden did, and it wasn't probably him. I don't think he knew where he was. But what the people surrounding him allowed to happen to our country can never be ever forgotten again. From mental institutions. They came from drug dealers and murderers. 11,888 murderers >> came into our country illegally. They came into our country and they let them in. They didn't even check. What's your name? What's your serial number? Give me a card. Give me something. No identification, which hopefully we're going to have with the Save America Act, which Republicans have to get it done. You know, they all say they they don't have the votes.
>> They have to find the votes. That's what leadership's all about. But uh, they came in with no identification, no nothing. They walk into our country and look, that's why they lost their election in a landslide, frankly. One of the reasons.
>> So, but what on the drone attack in California? Is that real or was that verified? Did that cross your desk that that is a a legitimate concern?
>> Well, the first we heard about it was from Gavin Newsom, uh, the incompetent governor of California. He told you
>> as he said, "No, he announced it. It came out from him or his office."
>> That's what we heard at first. He was talking about it,
>> but he has learning disabilities. So, I don't know, maybe he doesn't know, you know, he he admitted he had learning disability. Somebody said, "Well,
>> what's wrong with that?" I said, "That's okay, but not for the president." You know, right? President can't have learning disability. If you have that, that's not a good thing.
>> Well, he did say he couldn't read. Uh, which I found astounding. Well, he said much beyond that. And he said other things. I won't even get into it, but he said a whole pile of things. Nobody understands what he did that day.
>> I he committed political suicide, but that interview was not good. On top of it, it showed he was a racist. So, yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> I want to get back to that.
>> That was not a good Hey, that was not a good interview.
>> Uh, that's his book tour. I don't think it's been a banner book tour uh for him, but we'll see what it does for 2028 because clearly he has his eyes on that. Can we talk about Iran for a second? And finally, we hear from the Supreme Leader in a long statement. Uh, we don't see him. He doesn't read the speech. We They say he wrote the speech. First off, do you believe he's alive?
>> I think he probably is. I think he's damaged, but I think he's probably alive in some form. Yeah.
>> What's your takeaway? I know he says u he says that he's going to widen the war. He's going to continue to use the straight of as leverage against you uh to end this war. He's got underwater drones to stop any of the ships going in and out. What's your message back to the the new Supreme Leader?
>> Well, they've been doing a lot of talking, so he's going to have to put up. We'll have to see because we are decimating them. We've knocked out most of their missiles. We've knocked out many of their drones. We knocked out a lot of the manufacturing areas where they manufacture the missiles. And now the drones, we're hitting them harder than anybody's been hit since World War II. So, uh, they are able to to basically shut off the straight of Hormuz. The word is that you're about ready to to escort these oil tankers through. Is that true?
>> Well, we would do it if we needed to, but we would do it if we needed to, but you know, hopefully uh things are going to go very well. We're going to see what happens. A lot's going to be We've already damaged them so badly. It would take years for them to ever rebuild and we're going to be hitting them very hard over the next week. So, uh, but does it concern you that these tankers aren't getting through? And the one that did get through made its way to China. I would think that maybe we'd be stopping these tankers that got through.
>> Well, you'll have to see what happens over the next, you know, this just began. This was this is their new strategy. So, you're going to have to watch, Brian, what's going to be happening over the next few days. And we'll see. We'll see how successful they are. But, uh, they're doing this as a last ditch effort. Their Navy has been totally gone. It's, as far as we know, it's just gone. They maybe have one ship. Well, searching it out. It It won't be around for long, but their navy's gone, their air force is gone, their leadership is gone, their second leadership is gone. Now, their third leadership is in trouble. And uh this is not somebody that the father even wanted. But I'm not going to I'm not going to say, you know, you were asking whether or not he's left. A lot of people are trying to figure that one out. But we've done uh things that no whether it's Venezuela or this uh we've done things that nobody can believe. They are in such look at the missile attacks. The missile attacks are down to a trickle now compared to what they were.
>> Now they go all out because they hear me make that statement. But that's all right because they'll go all out. We have it covered. We have it guarded and they'll have that fewer. You know they they're down to a very small relatively small number of missiles. Their drones are in a lot of trouble now because we're knocking out their manufacturing plants where they manufacture at a very fast slip.
>> So, do you um right now the straight is not open. Uh, I know that and you did a couple of things. You you offered insurance for these ships to go through. No one seems to have taken you up on that. You also uh are I understand you've released strategic oil reserve to ease the oil shock that's happening right now and so did 32 other nations which is unprecedented. But, uh, do you believe you're going to suspend the Jones Act, too? And if so, what would that do?
>> Well, it lets you take ships that are American-made and have them go around to different ports. It's a restrictive act. It's got some tremendous support in Congress. Support for it. Not to suspend it, but support for it, the Jones Act. But, uh, we we'll take a look. We'll take a look at everything. And it's all going to work out. Look, we took an excursion. We had the greatest economy ever. We still do. And we have to do a little excursion to get rid of mad mad people, crazy people that have that want to have nuclear weapons. If we didn't do the hit that midnight hammer,
>> if we didn't have those beautiful B2 bombers hit them so effectively, and the word is obliterate, and now everybody admits the word is obliterate. In fact, they're not even talking about opening that site. They were talking about going to a new site, if you can believe it.
>> But if we didn't hit them with a B2 bomber, it could be that Israel would not be around today. And Mr. Mr. President, would you also say it's important to get the uranium that Steve Woodco talked about that they said they have over 400 kg of it? Is there uh some type of operation in place to grab it?
>> No, not at all. And we're not focused on that, but at some point we might be. Right now we're focused on knocking the hell out of their missiles and their drones.
>> Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, uh uh Bahrain have been hit uh roughly. Uh, what has been your conversations that you feel comfortable relaying to our audience with the uh with the Gulf uh with our Gulf allies? Uh
>> we're very very solid. The relationship, the unity is tremendous. I spoke to most of them today. Uh, they got hit and they really nobody expected it. They were sort of staying away and I don't want to say neutral. I think they they've been very good for us, but they were more or less neutral and all of a sudden they got hit, which shows you, look, what they wanted to do, what Iran wanted to do is take over the whole Middle East. And if we didn't stop them with the B2 bombers, they would have done that. Think of it, all the things that we knocked out the first time and then the second time. If they had that now, they had so many missiles, we knocked the hell out of them the first time, and this time
>> it's even much more so. You know, this is a much more severe blow,
>> right? If they had all those missiles, they they were looking to take over the entire Middle East, not just destroy Israel.
>> I believe they had were making 200 a month uh rockets and that would have protected what was going to be a reconstituted nuclear program. The Supreme Leader came out, Mr. President, and said uh if you they're going to keep attacking the Gulf States until we leave our American base, the American forces leave our presence in from Qatar to UAE to Saudi Arabia. Are we going to leave?
>> Well, the Gulf States are doing a very good job in protecting themselves. They have great Patriot missiles, which are the defensive missiles that have knocked down virtually 100% of the time they use. They knock down whatever they're whatever they're aimed at. They've been unbelievable. It's been unbelievable technology. Look, nobody has the technology or the weapons that we have. And and the Patriots are an example of it. We have the Tomahawks. We have the Patriots. We have stuff that nobody's ever been able to produce, and they can't produce it like us. So, we'll see how it all goes. Brian, I mean, it's going very well. We're way ahead of schedule. Way ahead. We had no idea we'd be this far ahead. We've knocked out close to 90% of their missiles.
>> How important how important would it be to get out that besiege force, the uh the thugs that walk the streets and the moral? Are we aiming for them?
>> No. These are these are bad people. They go out shooting protesters. You're a protester. They shoot you right through the head. This is an evil group of people and if we had them have a nuclear weapon they would use it and they wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep.
>> So yesterday the prime minister or the other day said it's soon to the Iranian people. It's time for you to soon come back and take back your country when the time is right and that time is soon. There's also report that Israeli officials do not think the regime is ready to fall yet. What do you say to the Iranian people? Do you echo what the prime minister said? Their time is soon to take back their own country.
>> Well, you just mentioned to me a group of people that go around with machine guns and shoot them down and they say if you anybody protest, we're going to kill you in the streets. So, I really think that's a big hurdle to climb for people that don't have weapons. I think it's a very big hurdle. So, that it'll happen, but it probably will be maybe not immediately. Who's going to do that? They they literally have people in the in the streets with machine guns machine gunning people down if they want to protest. Okay. So, you know, that's a pretty big uh that's a pretty high standard to say I want to go and protest,
>> right?
>> And so, I would understand that and I would think BB would understand that, too.
>> Are you astounded?
>> He didn't say he's doing it right now. Time will go by. They're going to be in worse shape as time goes by. We're hitting them very hard. We have unlimited ammunition. We have of the high level and medium le the medium and medium high level. We have virtually unlimited ammunition and we're using it. We're using it. We we can go forever.
>> Mr. President, do you believe that uh when the fighting stops that the rest of the Gulf States will join the Abraham Accords more than is it closer than ever? Have they have has Iran's action against the Gulf States made your pitch uh easier to digest for these Gulf States knowing that it's clear now Israel is not the problem. Iran is?
>> Yeah. Uh, it's made it much easier because they have never been in condition like they are right now. They're putting up a wonderful front. They're saying things, but they are devastated. When you take a look at what we know and and remember this, we're being nice. I could take out things within the next hour. We could hang up within in one hour. You'd be reading about taking out nuclear power plants or power plants. That creates the electricity that creates the water. They have desalinization all over the place. We could do things that would be so bad they could literally never rebuild as a nation again. And we're trying to be nice about it. We're not doing it. Now, they'll go around and shoot civilians all over the place, but we don't do that. But we could take out elements of what they have in terms of infrastructure. They would virtually never be able time wouldn't matter, never be able to reproduce it. And so far, we've chosen not to do that. But we have hit them so hard. I mean, they have no they have virtually no military left. They do have the thugs walking across and when they're caught, they will be tried and executed when those thugs are caught. And we have them on tape who they are and they better turn in their guns. But you know, we have tapes of some of these people that go around shooting the protesters. Maybe all of them when we add it all up and they're going to have a big problem after this is all.
>> Have they been targeted yet?
>> I don't want to say that, but we have a lot of tape and we have a lot of people. We know exactly what they look like. And they're going out and they're shooting protesters for just literally standing, not for doing anything, for standing on the street. They're killing people. And prior to this starting, they killed 32,000 people. So uh the year was 1988. This uh president uh this future President Donald Trump was selling a book called The Art of the Deal. He gave an interview to a British newspaper at which time you talked about Iran. You said we have to win back respect for America on the world stage. And you had stern words for the Islamic Republic. You said they've been beating us, beating us up psychologically, making us look like a bunch of fools. One bullet shot of one of our men or ships. I do a number on Carg Island. I go in and I take it. Now here in 2026, you are president. Are you thinking about taking Car Island where 90% of the Iranian oil goes through? And what do you think about do you remember that interview and that that uh school of thought?
>> Yeah, but Brian, I can't answer a question like that. You should and you shouldn't ask and you shouldn't be even asking it. Uh, it's one of so many different things. It's not high on the list, but it's one of so many different things. And I can change my mind in seconds, but you know, for you to ask a question, who would answer a question like that? I mean, you're asking me a question. Car island. Okay. Am I think who would ask a question like that? And what fool would answer it? Okay, let's say I was going to do it or let's say I wasn't going to do it. Why would I tell you, oh yes, Brian, I'm thinking about doing it. Let me uh let me let you know what time and when it'll take place. It's not, you know, it's sort of a foolish question. A little surprising for you because you're a smart man.
>> I am, but you were just pretty amazing that you thought about it in 1988. So,
>> well, I did, but I thought about a lot of other things. You know what else I thought about a long time before it happened? One year before it happened almost exactly is Osama bin Laden. I said you have to go out and kill Osama bin Laden. He's big trouble. Kill him.
>> Right.
>> Nobody did anything. A year later he knocked down the World Trade Center.
>> Let's talk about China. It turns out
>> you know that it was in a book. Did you know that I wrote it in a book?
>> Yeah, I I
>> one of my one of my many bestsellers. I said go get Osama bin Laden. And he show because I saw him interviewed and I said, "Wow, that guy's trouble." And I said, "You better go get him." And one year before he knocked down the World Trade Center and you know that Clinton had a chance to get him.
>> Yep.
>> And didn't do it.
>> And he thought it would be he would be accused of doing a wag the dog thing. And uh, but hey, I want to talk about China. Do you realize, I'm sure you do, there have been very few overflights for the first time in maybe five or six years over Taiwan. The word is too there are long gas lines in China. How how do number one do you those reports as you understand them correct and number two uh how do you think that affects your meeting that's coming up in a couple of weeks?
>> Well, the reports are correct about the long lines but you know look he runs a a strong he's a strong person a strong leader I have a great relationship with him I'm going over there in a very short period of time I was invited and I'm going it's good that we get along. We're getting along very well. We're doing well economically with China. They want to do business with us and you know we've had a good relationship. It's highly competitive obviously but he and I have had a very good relationship and that's a good thing not a bad thing for all the people that are listening to your very highly rated show which is you're doing very well. I'm proud of you.
>> But for all the people that are listening it's good when I get along with other nations the leaders of other nations. It's good powerful nation uh powerful military. Nobody has our military. You know, I built I built our military in my first term. And we're using it more than I'd like to now to be honest with you because I like peace through strength. But uh in this case, we had no choice. We had to do we had to we had to close it out. 47 years they've been killing people. For 47 years they've been blowing their legs off. They've been Think of it all that the SS Cole so many different things they were involved in. So many bad things. So many acts of terror.
>> It had to be done. It should have been done long before
>> this. M
>> Mr. President, between 2023 and 2024, the DNI of Joe Biden said there were 190 attacks on US on uh US forces or our allies by Iran. That was the department uh that was the director of national intelligence for President Biden.
>> We had 241 in 1983, killed 603 in Iraq. Are you surprised with these stats that Democrats are so vehemently seemingly against this mission, including some veterans like Senator Mark Kelly?
>> Well, Mark Kelly is a very not a smart person. I mean, he's not a smart man. He's terrible. What he said is terrible about, you know, leadership. Okay, leadership. Follow him. You follow him into a grave. He's he's terrible. He's a pathetic guy. But they're pathetic. Look, we have a case where our country right now is is respected more than it has maybe ever been with Venezuela, with this, with the B2s, with all of the different things we've done and all the great success we've had. And during all of this period, I've rebuilt the military into the strongest military in the world by far. We have we had great people, but the people were being led badly and in fact in many cases being led through woke. And we don't have that anymore. We have an unbelievable power where our military is unquestionably the best and the strongest of the world. And I built it in my first term. This didn't just happen. I built it. You know, we had trillion dollars, a trillion dollars, another trillion dollars. And I built it and made it great. I built the wall, hundreds of miles of wall. Otherwise, you'd have people, no matter how good a job I'm doing, without the wall that we built, you'd have people pouring into our country at levels never seen before. Biden let 25 million people come into our country, right?
>> 25 million people. And many of those people came they came out of jails and prisons and they came out of mental institutions and they were killers and all of the things that we just discussed. And I'm doing something about it. And I had to take an excursion. We had the greatest economy in history. We do. We still do. Oh, this will bounce right back when it's over. And I don't think it's going to be long. When it's over, this is gonna bounce right back so fast.
>> When are you gonna know when it's over?
>> When I feel it.
>> Okay.
>> I feel it in my bones.
>> Will you ask anybody in particular? Would that be some of these a joint decision?
>> I deal with people. I have great people, you know. I have General Raisin Kane. I have Pete. Pete's turned out to be a star. Marco's great. JD, I've got all good people. I've got We've got a great group. So you let's let's talk about uh if I can looking back in history George Schultz and Casper Weinberger are two smart guys disagreed with in front of Reagan. Rumsfeld and Coen Pal disagreed in front of George W. Bush in your cabinet with the vice president, Secretary of State. What is it like? What are the dynamics when you have a big decision like Iran or Venezuela? Uh, are people speaking up and speaking their minds even if
>> they do. I let them speak their mind and they do and we have some differences but they they never end up being much. I convince them all to let's do it my way.
>> So let's talk about immigration. Why is Senator John John Wayne Mullen the right pick?
>> Ah, just a fantastic guy. He's got it. He's got what it takes. I think he's going to do a fantastic job.
>> And when you talk about immigration, James Blair evidently told the, you know, the caucus, Republican caucus, don't talk about mass deportation. Story in Politico today said, "Hey, uh, the president's allies want mass deportation. It rates really high with the people that put you there." Then you got farmers saying, "Hey, I need work visas for my for my longtime immigrants and meat packers saying the same thing." Where do you stand, Mr. President?
>> Number one, I stand we're getting the the bad criminals, the murderers, and all these criminals that were allowed. Number one, that's a top priority, and the rest is all going to work out, and it's working out well. We've deported tremendous numbers of people, but we're going after the murderers. We're going after the drug dealers. We're going after the the mentally insane and and people from insane asylums. And we're bringing them back to where they came from because we have no choice. We won't have a country. And we're taking care of We have really bad, really sick criminals that were allowed to come into our country under Joe Biden. Sleepy Joe.
>> And he allowed them to come into our country and we're getting them out. That's number one priority. But we want people to come into our country legally. And nobody can say anything about Trump because we literally for eight months now have had zero people come through the border. And Biden had millions of people. Nobody checked.
>> Totally unchecked and unvetted.
>> I just uh and I know you got to run, but the Save America Act, you told John Thoon, get it done. Do you mean get Democrats or do you mean throw blow up the filibuster because you need 60 votes, right?
>> Yeah.
>> So how do you get it done? Is Arizona
>> act. This is it's called the Save America Act and it's exactly that. It's voter ID. It's proof of citizenship. It's no mail-in ballots which are horrible. They are so corrupt. Jimmy Carter years ago said you can't do mail-in ballots. It's corrupt. We're the only country in the world that does mail-in ballots like this. We're the only country. There's no other country in the world because it means you cheat. They cheat. Now, it's mail in, but for the military, it's okay. For somebody that's sick or somebody that's
disabled or for somebody that's traveling, you're at a business trip or even a trip. We'll be very, you know, open about that. But I also added two other things and I put them in just recently. It's five points. And very, very importantly, no men in women's sports, no transgender mutilization of our children. um in Texas, >> those five things.
How can you vote against voter ID and and citizenship and the other things I said? And >> it should be done. And if it's not done, >> it's a shame. And I think frankly any any politician that voted against, >> think of it, every place you go, you give identification. >> And I want picture identification, not just we want picture so that when when they go in to vote, somebody standing there can say, "Oh, that is the same person." And not that it's a totally different person, which they do. They cheat. The reason they don't want it is because they cheat. And you saw that in 2020. They cheated at levels never seen before. And now all of that's come out.
>> The DHS reopening is the Democrats beginning to crack. I mean, they wanted Christine out. She's out. They wanted no more roving patrols. You stopped it. They wanted body cams. You gave it to them. Uh uh do you feel as though you've given enough at this point? Uh >> I think so. Look, they have to These are people that hate our country. These are people that have Trump derangement syndrome. If I want the opposite, if I said, uh, let's have nothing. Let's have this. Let's give you everything you want, they'd say, nope, we don't want it. We want the opposite. Anything I say, they go the opposite. If I say build the wall, they say don't build the wall. No matter what I say, they go the opposite. Because they're sick, deranged people. They got a problem. Do you think these attacks will change their mind? >> Disease. It's called Trump derangements and believe. >> Do you think these new attacks today will change their mind? I mean, to think >> I don't think so because I think there's something wrong with them. The the the hatred of Republicans is beyond belief. Who wouldn't vote for voter ID? Who wouldn't want that? Voter identification, >> right? >> Please, may I see your card, sir? Or madam, may I please see your card? And they say, "We don't want you to do that." And yet every other, you know, I wrote a list, but it was too long to to go into. But I wrote a list. I had 50 things that you need voter that you need identification for everything. It's like everything.
>> But it's like, >> but outside Federman, can you get But outside Federman, I don't think any Democrat would do it. And even though the polls show over 70% of Democrats want voter ID on every ethnic group, >> 86% of Democrats approve of of Save America. Now, think of it. They're going to have to go out and say, "We are opposed to Save America." It's called the Save America Act. You know, they had a hard time with MAGA. Make America great again. Remember when Biden would get up and say, "We have to stop MAGA. We will stop MAGA. We have to stop MAGA." The poor guy. And I said, "No, no, MAGA means make America great again. He wants to stop it. Now they have to, now they have the Save. It's not the Save Act, by the way. All these people that use Save Act, those are people that are on the other. It's the Save America because nobody knows what the Save Act was. Nobody has any idea. The stupid name, the Save Act. And they used that for two years. It's called the Save America Act. Points and I just named the point.
>> And lastly, the Texas election. You said you're going to make a choice on what Democrat, what Republican should really get the nomination. >> Is it going to be Cornin or is it going to be Paxin? What do you think? >> Let me tell you the good news. The good news is their candidate is whacked out with his six different forms of gender and all the things that I saw. The the insult to Jesus. I mean such an insult. This guy out. And you know it's very interesting. They had no fear of her because she's a low IQ individual. But >> they really waited. The Republicans waited. They really wanted to run against him because they had these things and nobody knew they had them. and all this bad stuff came out about him. He is so woke. He's beyond woke. He's he's actually I think he's grossly incompetent. I think Gavin Nuskam is uh incompetent. I think he's an incompetent person. And he admitted it. I mean, he admitted that he's incompetent. And you know, when a guy does that, but when you see what this guy said about gender and about other topics and the amazing thing, it all came out one day after he defeated >> Terico. Terico, >> right? Yeah. He defeated Crockett. So, so do you think that Paxton or Corned at all to Davy Crockett, do you think? >> I don't think so. I'm gonna have to do a DNA. I don't know if she'll do 23 and me, but we could look into it. Paxton, >> check it out. >> I will. I got >> would be honored. >> I got I have a lot of free time. >> Great frontiers. >> So, you're going to stay out of the the primary then? The Pax and Corn? >> No, I'm not going to say it. No, I want to do something, but the main thing I have to do is find out who's going to get the Save America Act approved. Well, uh I guess Senator John Thun's kind of had a log jam a very Look, I think he's a wonderful person. I do. But he seems to be uh not that he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't think he can do it. And that's bad. I mean, how can you not get voter ID approved? How can you not get, you know, citizenship approved? >> Proof of citizenship. Uh >> listen, all we're asking for.
>> I hear you. And lastly, is it true that you're you're telling your whole cabinet to wear the same shoes, these floor shine shoes? >> No, but it's a nice shoe. But what I do is as somebody that for many many years has walked around in shoes that were no good and, you know, would not be that comfortable. So, I have fun with it. When they tell me they have a problem, I say, "Let me get you a pair of shoes." And seems to work out pretty well. Now, they look all spiffy and nice. I never like cabinet members walking in in sneakers, >> right? You know, sneakers are wonderful, but I don't want my cabinet members wearing sneakers. So, I'll get him a pair of shoes. It's a gift from Donald Trump. >> Well, that's cool. You could write it off, too, at the end of the year with this new with your new tax reform. >> I don't have to write it off. You're right. I guess I could, but I don't have to. Go ahead, >> Bill. Mr. President, I I can't thank you enough. Uh, lastly, are you enjoying this with all the pressure on your shoulders? >> We We're doing great. I had to do this excursion through y >> uh very tough kind of a thing to do except it shows how strong I knew exactly that we'd we'd be good and what do you see tomorrow what do you see the next day they're going to be hit so hard they're going to be hit they can talk all they want but you know let's see what they do so they're going to maybe do something having to do with the straits I don't know but they're being hit so hard it'll take them 20 years to rebuild >> you think Putin is helping them >> I think He might be helping him a little bit. Yeah, I guess. And he probably thinks we're helping Ukraine, right? >> And you are, right? >> Yeah, we're helping him also. And so he says that and China would say the same thing. You know, it's like uh hey, they do it and we do it. In all fairness, they do it and we do it.
>> Uh the only thing that I know that matters to the first lady is >> I tell you one thing with Ukraine, >> what >> they have to pay for everything and they pay through NATO. When they buy missiles from us, when they buy anything from us, it goes not to them. It goes to NATO, and NATO pays the bill. >> Are they helping us with with drone defense, too? >> No, we don't need their help in drone defense. No, we do. We have We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually.
>> Uh uh, Mr. President, uh, best of luck these next few days. We'll be watching every moment. And thanks so much for your time. >> Good. And thank you for your support. You've been great. You've been really doing a good job, Brent. Thanks a lot. >> Be sure to like and subscribe for all the Fox News latest on YouTube and catch full shows streaming now on Fox