In press conference that stretched over an hour, President Trump provided details on the rescue of a U.S. airman in Iran, but little information on next steps in Iran war.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The world has been waiting and watching to see what happens next in Iran. Today, in a rambling news conference that lasted over an hour, President Trump discussed the war with Iran and the rescue of an American airman over the weekend.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The president also complained about NATO, restated his interest in acquiring Greenland and perhaps jokingly claimed that he would run for president of Venezuela after he learned Spanish.
SUMMERS: CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Dan Caine, also spoke, but only Trump took questions. Asked about Iran, the president evaded a question on regime change.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I saw – somebody said, oh, he doesn’t have a plan. I have the best plan of all, but I’m not going to tell you what my plan is.
CHANG: He repeated his threat against Iran’s civilian infrastructure if a deal is not reached by Tuesday night, and that includes an open Strait of Hormuz.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again – I mean, complete demolition.
CHANG: Trump said, quote, “it will happen over a period of four hours if we want it to.”
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