Interview: Trey Yingst Interviews Donald Trump at the White House - July 14, 2026

[Trey Yingst interviewed Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House at 4:30 PM on July 14, 2026. The first 00:09:10 aired on Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News at 6:00 PM Eastern the same day. Fox has said more segments of the interview will be relased as the week progresses. Any additional segments will be appended here. Video courtesy and copyright Fox News.]

Mr. President, thank you for speaking with Fox News.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

We have seen extensive US strikes against Iran for three consecutive nights now. This comes after the Iranians attacked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. How would you describe what is happening at this moment? Has the war resumed?

Well, I guess you could define it any way you want, but certainly we're beating them up really badly. They have to be beat up. We're hitting them very, very hard. We're hitting every single thing that they have along the shore, along the, the waterfront. You know, if you look at, uh, the Strait of Hormuz, it's now, uh, we're looking, we're finding it hard to find where they have anything.

Uh, have to stop it. We have to keep it open. I was gonna charge a fee, but instead, they'd rather they spend a lot of money in the United States, which frankly is better because I don't like the idea of a fee. It's gotta remain free because otherwi- -- otherwise others will do the same thing. But I think we've made tremendous progress.

So your objectives are to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon, to keep the strait open and to degrade the Iranian military. Can those objectives be completed in an air campaign alone, or does this require a ground component?

Well, I think they're completed now, honestly. If we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild what they have. The only way you can negotiate with these people is through strength. And the only strength is military strength. And that's what we've done. And I mean, literally two days ago, we had a deal and then they broke it at the last moment.

They broke it.

Will these strikes continue?

Uh, they'll continue until I say, uh, it's enough. I mean, they'll continue. They've been, uh, they're, you know, the word the military likes to use is degrade. They've been degraded to a very low level. Uh, and they have fight, you know? It's like, um, a great boxer. You have, you think you have them beat, and then all of a sudden, he comes back and he gives you a, a shot.

Uh, they have some fight left, but they don't have much. And, uh, their weapon degrading has been incredible at a level. Nobody though it was possible to do it this quickly.

You posted today on True Social comments that you made back in 1988 about Kharg Island. And at the time, you said, "One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I'd do a number on Kharg Island. I'd go in and take it."

Yeah.

Do you still intend to take Kharg Island?

So I, I can't say that to you because if I did, it would be foolish, right? But it'd be nice to make a little headlines, but it would be foolish. But I'll tell you about Kharg Island. So we've already --

Are you ruling out a ground campaign in a limited capacity?

Well, I don't, I, I don't wanna say that either, but I would say no. If I, if I though it was appropriate, I'd say sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us. But, uh, we already hit Kharg Island, as you know, twice. Uh, even three times I said, "Hit everything but the oil.

Just leave that little area from 25 yards out. Leave that little area. Don't touch the oil." Because I don't want that in terms of the world economy. It's a, you know, it's a chunk of the world economy. So we haven't hit that. At some point we could, but I think it's unlikely. As far as taking it is concerned, if we degrade them far enough and deep enough back, uh, I would do that.

Do you anticipate that the strikes were seen this week against Iran will expand? Are you considering hitting energy targets or other locations inside of Iran?

[Inaudible] Uh, I'll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately, we'll hit energy targets, yeah. But, uh, we're gonna hit them very hard tonight. We're gonna hit them very hard tomorrow night. We're gonna hit them very hard the night after. And then, next week, it gets really bad for them because next week comes the, uh, power plants.

Next week comes the bridges. We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're gonna knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.

Do you believe the Iranians are serious about making a deal?

I think they have no choice.

Why haven't they yet?

I think if I didn't do the way I'm doing, they would never make a deal. They would've never made a deal with Obama. That deal was the worst deal. What they did sign was a worthless piece of paper. What they signed, what they signed with Obama was a worthless piece of paper that was a road to a nuclear weapon.

And what I have is a, a wall. There will be no nuclear weapon. I'll never sign. And when you listed the three things, by far, the most important is they will not have a nuclear weapon.

Take me back to the moment before February 28th when you made the decision to launch Operation Epic Fury. Was there a specific piece of intelligence that made you decide to launch this operation?

Well, it was specific in the sense that it just never stops and they're gonna go forward and they wanted a nuclear weapon. We knew they wanted a nuclear weapon. If they have a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn't be here. Look, uh, I --

They said they didn't want a nuclear weapon.

Well, they say that. They, everything they say is a lie. They lie. I've never seen anything like it. They also come out and they'll tell you we never discussed nuclear and we're in a room for five hours. That's all we discussed. And they'll walk out and say, "Nuclear was not discussed." Everything was discussed.

Uh, ad nauseum, they were going to have a nuclear weapon within two weeks. Had we not done the B2 bombers, had we not bombed their nuclear sites, their three nuclear sites, and there's another one we're looking at right now, as you know.

Pickaxe out.

Yeah. We're looking at Pickaxe because somebody said there's a little activity. You know, we have cameras, Space Force, we have cameras that are, they can read the badge. They can read your name, probably Mohammad. They can read your name and a badge from, from space. And every area of Pickaxe, but the other three are covered.

But specifically on Pickaxe, sir --

If, if they make any move, they make any move, we immediately go and do whatever we have to do, but they haven't on the other. They, they were so detriment.

Some weapons experts say that the United States doesn't have the ability to strike de- -- deep enough with these bunker buster bombs at Pickaxe Mountain.

They can go deep. We have good, good stuff. Uh, nobody knows about Pickaxe. By the way, nobody knows if they even are doing anything in Pickaxe. It's just something that comes up. We have cameras on it. There's very little activity there. But, uh, if there's even just a small amount, we'll hit it and we'll hit it hard.

I wanna ask you about the Taleghan facility. It's outside of Tehran and it was hit in US strikes previously. These are satellite images from June and July.

Okay.

And on June 22nd, you can see activity at this site.

Yeah.

And then on July 7th, there is movement. There are trucks and cranes and, and that image, freshly poured concrete.

Right.

What do these images say to you?

Well, what, what I'm hearing is that they put, and what they've watched it, that they poured concrete to close up the entrances so we couldn't get into it. So that's what they're saying. But we can hit that one very easily. You know, it only takes a matter of minutes for us to do it and do major damage, major damage.

And when they know it's coming, they disappear. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm seeing here.

And, and sir, on Monday, you announced that the United States is reimposing the US blockade of --

Yeah.

#NAME?

It started now.

Shipping data trackers indicate that just 10 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Less than 10% of what normally goes through this critical waterway.

Mm-hmm.

When you say the strait is open, what do you mean?

Uh, it's open if people wanna go through it. Uh, we're not opening it for Iran. That's the only one it's closed for, it's closed for Iran both in and out, but it's open now. A lot of things have happened, Trey, in the last few months. Pipelines are being built. Uh, we're coming up with great alternatives, including Texas, including Alaska.

You've called the new leadership in Iran a changed regime. Do you still believe that?

Well, I, I knew the first group for a little while, and they were evil and they're no longer with us. I knew the second group also a little bit better, and they were evil and they're no longer with us. And the third group, they have some bad ones in there, some very bad ones in there.

Just some?

And I think they're the ones that are stopping a deal.

So are you negotiating with the wrong people?

Well, now we, I don't wanna negotiate now. I said, "Let's not negotiate." Three days ago, we had a deal.

When was the last time you spoke with an Iranian official?

Well, not me, but let's say my representatives. I have spoken to them, but my representatives over the course of, well, actually, an hour ago.

And what message was delivered?

They wanna make a deal. But every time they make a deal, they break it. They don't wanna die. People don't wanna die. Uh, yeah, about an hour ago.

And what message was delivered?

You better make a deal. You're not gonna have any, you're not gonna have anybody left. We're being very careful with the civilian population as you know, but I said, "You better make a deal, you're not gonna have anything left."

And you think they will?

They should. I don't know if they will or not.

Sir, thank you for speaking with Fox News.

Thank you. Thank you very much.