Hi, everybody. So go ahead.
So --
What, what prompted you to call off the strikes last night?
I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, and by Qatar, and by Iran. Uh, we were all set to go. It's about at this time right now. And, uh, it would have been a massive attack. We're all set to go, but when the allies ask to call it off, you got to sort of say, "Well, let's see." And the reason they asked is I think there's a deal.
There's a deal on Hormuz and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. I call it the denuclearization of Iran.
So what, what should we expect?
We're holding it. We'll just see. We can do it anytime we want. But, uh, we were asked by the three primary groups. Uh, we were also asked by Iran very strongly, actually. Uh, they said, "We'd like to make a deal." Now, you know, I don't know what they say because a lot of times they'll say that to me and then they'll go out and say, "We don't know what he's talking about." Obviously, they don't wanna be attacked.
So this is --
What happened --
They knew, they knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming.
What happens now?
Well, now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon, and we'll see if it's, yeah. I'd love to do that. Save a lot of lives. Save a lot of, uh, a lot of unnecessary power, to be honest with you. It would take many, many years to ever build it back.
If it could, I don't think it would be even buildable back. So we had a, we had an attack that would be the biggest attack since World War II, and it would've been disastrous for them. [Laughs] And they didn't want us to do it. And, and frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent.
Is there a deadline, sir, on the deal?
And the deal is eminent having to do with the Hormuz Strait, uh, and also, uh, the, ultimately the denuclearization of Iran.
So --
So when I hear that, I say, "Well, do we wanna go and be distributed?" Now, there's a group of people that would like me to just do it. And there's another group of people that does not want me to do it.
Mr. President, does Iran have a deadline to come to an agreement?
Uh, we'll just see, we'll just see how it is. We're ready to go anytime we want. Uh, would I rather make a deal? I'm not looking to kill people because people died. A lot of people died. And we don't want that. So, uh, they asked us, Iran specifically, but the other three said, "We really --" I asked them, I asked Saudi Arabia, the king.
I said, uh, the Crown Prince, I said, "What would you rather do? Would you rather have us do this or not?" They said, "We would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack." Because you don't know where these attacks lead. I mean, will they be flooded with people pouring into their country and, and disaster?
A lot of, a lot of bad things can happen.
Sir, there, sir, there's a report that you're moving US troops out of Bahrain and Kuwait. Are troops being moved out of the Middle East?
I don't want to comment on that.
Mr. President, why is the US intervening to support the Japan, uh, yen at this time?
To support who?
To support the Japanese currency?
Uh, because we have a good relationship with Japan. We're very strong, very, very strong financially. Uh, they are, you know, they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. And we're always there for Japan. Japan's been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.
Mr. President --
[Crosstalk]
-- what is the US getting out of that arrangement?
Uh, financial benefit.
Can you ela --
Financial benefit. And we also, it's also good for the world economy. But we, we make, like, uh, when we did with Argentina, I got criticized. We made $25 billion on that deal. Uh, on Venezuela, we make hundreds of billions of dollars. I made good deals. Intel, I made $75 billion for the country. I didn't make for me, I made for the country.
Intel. I backed Intel. It's the hottest stock right now on the New York stock, on the various stock exchanges. So we made about 75 to $80 billion. And Japan wanted to, it was really, uh, more than anything else, it was a signal of friendship.
You said it, you said that the anti-weapon --
Because the yen is weakening.
On the --
And the dollar is doing great.
You said the anti --
The, the fact is, our country is doing great. Everybody wants help from our country. Yeah.
You said the anti-weapon --
Who are you with?
I'm with ABC News. You said the anti --
BBC?
ABC.
Oh, ABC. That's worse. [Laughs]
[Laughs] You said the anti-weaponization --
I like BBC better than ABC, yes. Go ahead.
The anti-weaponization fund is back on the table. What are your plans --
No, they don't want to be approved. look, we have a man named Todd Blanche. He's outstanding in every way. Most of you know who he is. You're not gonna find a better person. And everybody, and it's because I backed, won his opponent and his opponent won in a landslide. This is, that's the only reason, reason it's happening.
But I will say there are a lot of people that like, uh, people were hurt so badly. Uh, 22 suicides, they were destroyed, their families were destroyed for doing things that honestly, there's never been an attack on any group of people in this country, in my opinion. Maybe one. There's one group that was attacked violently and viciously like these people were attacked.
And this would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered. A lot of people like it. Uh, if they don't, if they don't approve Todd, I put it back on the table. A lot of people like it. A lot of big supporters of Trump like it.
Mr. President, there's been some domestic abuse allegations against Congressman Max Miller.
[Inaudible] story for that.
Do you think he should resign?
Well, I'm gonna look at it. I mean, so far it's, uh, accusations. I'll be looking at it.
Will the -- sorry. Will the youths do anything to address OpenAI and Anthropic's, uh, models hacking other systems?
Well, we, uh, we're very much involved in that. We have a, a big stake in that. So does the world. So we're looking at it.
Sir, on Canada, have you decided on a punishment yet for the wildfire smoke?
I have.
What if, can you share?
You'll find out about it.
[Laughs]
We were back on Iran. Were you prepared to hit energy targets for --
I won't say that.
Okay.
I can't say that.
Okay.
Mr. President --
It was going to be a massive attack. It was going to be attack that would have been by far the biggest attack since World War II. But they've asked us not to do it. They said, "Please don't do it." And other, their neighbors said that too. And so we're just gonna see whether or not we can make a deal for the denuclearization.
Tomorrow, some negotiations, did you say? What --
Uh, well the -- sorry. Go.
On Jay Clayton, uh, what's your directive for him? He's supposed to --
Just to do a great job. He's outstanding. As you know, he's an outstanding man. Uh, you look at his education. He was the head of, then he was immediately very early at a young age. Uh, went to the head of Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the most prestigious, maybe the most prestigious law firm in the world.
Uh, he headed up, uh. Well, let's see. I mean, look at the companies. Look at what he did. Oh, by the way, and he was a great, uh, for four years, he was a great, uh, SEC chairman.
Do you want him to continue the initiatives that you had Bill Pulte doing?
Well, I, I want him to do what he wants to do. He's an outstanding person. Everybody wanted him. And really, I mean, he's truly outstanding.
Why don't you --
Nan- -- Nancy Guthrie, the, the investigation into her disappearance now, six months --
Yes, yeah.
-- long, stalled out. S- -- is it time for the FBI to get involved or what --
Well, they are involved to an extent. But as you know, the local community really runs those things. And, and some people haven't liked the way the local communities run it. They haven't liked the way the sheriffs run it. But we would like to give them the benefit. But we're there anytime they need us. Well, it's a terrible thing.
Thank you very much, everybody.
Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you.