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President Donald Trump tore into former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal on Sunday, accusing him of empowering Tehran while defending his own military action against Iran.
“Obama signed that stupid deal where he paid them billions and billions of dollars, he thought he could bribe them,” Trump told Kristen Welker during a “Meet the Press” interview in Wisconsin.
Trump made the comments after Welker challenged him on Iran’s nuclear program and argued Tehran moved closest to weapons-grade uranium after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement.
“They were developing it during the nuclear deal,” Trump said. “You don’t know that?”
President Donald Trump defended his Iran policy during a tense NBC interview, saying the Obama-era nuclear deal failed to stop Tehran from advancing its program. (Salwan Georges/Bloomberg)
TRUMP UNLEASHES ON OBAMA’S ‘DISASTER’ IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL, SAYS HE WAS ‘HONORED’ TO RIP IT APART
Trump directly blamed Obama for Iran’s nuclear progress, saying the former president’s agreement failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon.
“They got all of this uranium during Obama, you know that, don’t you?” Trump said. “That’s how they got there… They got there. They developed it during the Obama, Barack Hussein Obama …”
Welker pushed back, saying Iran “escalated their development” after the deal was ended, before trying to move the interview to the economy.
Trump interrupted to argue that his decision to strike Iran prevented a catastrophic outcome.
“If I didn’t go in there with the B-2 bombers, they would right now have a nuclear weapon, and it could be that half of the world would be eradicated,” Trump said.
Earlier in the interview, Trump defended his decision to take military action despite years of campaigning against “endless wars.”
“I had to stop a country — very powerful, very dangerous country — from having a nuclear weapon because they’d use it,” Trump said. “They’d blow up the world, they’d blow up the Middle East, they’d blow up Israel, they’d come here, they’d blow up Europe.”
Kristen Welker pressed Trump on whether military action against Iran broke his “no new wars” campaign promise, prompting Trump to argue the strike was needed to prevent a nuclear threat. (Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance | Chen Mengtong / Getty Images)
NUCLEAR EXPERTS WARN IRAN’S URANIUM ‘RIGHT’ IS A MYTH, SAY TRUMP IS RIGHT TO HOLD FIRM
Trump claimed the mission was consistent with his “America First” foreign policy platform because he views a nuclear Iran as a direct threat to the United States.
“I’m doing the world a service, but I’m doing our country a service,” Trump said. “It’s America First. I’m doing our country a service.”
Welker pressed Trump on whether he broke his campaign promise not to start new wars.
“First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war,” Trump said. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”
He also rejected comparisons to Vietnam and Iraq, arguing the Iran conflict was limited and nearing its conclusion.
“This is not an endless war,” Trump said. “We’ve been doing this for three months. Much of it has been under the form a pretty good form of ceasefire.”
Former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear agreement came back under scrutiny after Trump called the deal “stupid” and claimed Obama thought “he could bribe” Tehran. (AP Photo)
TRUMP SAYS US SANK 10 SHIPS IN IRAN STRIKE, ‘LAST, BEST CHANCE’ TO ACT
“If we left tomorrow, if we just said, ‘All right, let’s get out,’ it’ll take them 15 or 20 years to rebuild back, but I’m not going to give them even that chance… They cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was reached in 2015 between Iran, the United States, other world powers and the European Union. The Obama administration said the agreement required Iran to reduce its uranium stockpile and accept limits on uranium enrichment and monitoring in exchange for phased sanctions relief.
Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018, calling it unacceptable and ordering sanctions to be reimposed. At the time, his administration said the deal failed to protect U.S. national security interests and gave Iran access to money while only delaying its nuclear ambitions.
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Trump abruptly ended the sit-down with Welker after the host repeatedly challenged his claims about election fraud, California’s vote count and his proposed “anti-weaponization” fund. He accused NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN of being “crooked” during a final exchange over his claims about U.S. elections.
“You’re a one-sided crooked network,” Trump told Welker. “Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
Digital reached out to former President Barack Obama for comment but did not immediately hear back.
