Trump blasts Obama Iran nuclear deal as empowering Tehran in interview
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President Donald Trump tore up former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal on Sunday, accusing him of empowering Tehran while advocating his own military action against Iran.
“Obama signed that stupid deal where he paid them 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 suggested Tehran had come closest to weapons-grade uranium after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.
“They were developing this during the nuclear deal,” Trump said. “Don’t you know that?”
President Donald Trump defended his Iran policy during a tense NBC interview, saying the Obama-era nuclear deal did not prevent Tehran from advancing its program. (Salwan Georges/Bloomberg)
TRUMP REVEALED OBAMA’S ‘DISTORY’ NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN, SAID HE WAS ‘HONORED’ TO SHEAR IT UP
Trump directly blamed Obama for Iran’s nuclear progress, saying the former president’s deal did not prevent Tehran from moving toward weapons.
“They bought all this uranium under Obama, you know that, right?” Trump said. “That’s how they got there… They got there. They developed it under Obama, Barack Hussein Obama…”
Welker backtracked, saying Iran was “accelerating its development” after the deal expired, before trying to move the interview to economics.
Trump interrupted, arguing that his decision to strike Iran prevented a catastrophic outcome.
“If I hadn’t gone in there with the B-2 bombers, they would have nuclear weapons right now and half the world would be destroyed,” 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 very powerful, very dangerous country from getting a nuclear weapon because they were going to 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 fulfilled his “no new wars” campaign promise, leading Trump to argue that the strike was necessary to prevent a nuclear threat. (Iran Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance | Chen Mengtong / Getty Images)
NUCLEAR EXPERTS WARN THAT THE ‘TRUE’ IRANIAN URANIUM IS A MYTH
Trump claimed that the mission was consistent with his “America First” foreign policy platform, as he sees a nuclear Iran as a direct threat to the United States.
“I’m doing a service to the world, but I’m doing a service to our country,” Trump said. “America first. I am doing a service to our country.”
Welker pressed Trump on whether he had kept his campaign promise not to start any new wars.
“First of all, I did not guarantee that there would be no war,” Trump said. “Why would I build the most powerful army in the world?”
He also dismissed comparisons with Vietnam and Iraq, arguing that the conflict in Iran is limited and nearing its end.
“This is not an endless war,” Trump said. “We’ve been doing this for three months. Most of it has been under a pretty good form of ceasefire.”
Former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal has come under renewed scrutiny after Trump called the deal “stupid” and claimed Obama thought he could “bribe” Tehran. (AP Photo)
TRUMP SAID WE SINKED 10 SHIPS DURING THE IRAN ATTACK, ‘THE LAST, BEST CHANCE’ TO TAKE ACTION
“If we left tomorrow, if we just said, ‘Okay, let’s leave,’ it would take them 15 or 20 years to rebuild, but I won’t even give them that chance… They can’t have nuclear weapons.”
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed between Iran, the USA, other world powers and the European Union in 2015. The Obama administration has said the deal requires Iran to reduce its uranium stockpile and accept limits on uranium enrichment and monitoring in exchange for gradual easing of sanctions.
Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018, stating that the agreement was unacceptable and ordered the reimposition of sanctions. At the time, the Trump administration said the deal failed to protect U.S. national security interests and only delayed its nuclear ambitions while giving Iran access to money.
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Trump abruptly ended the call with Welker after Welker repeatedly objected to his claims about election fraud, vote counting in California and his proposed “anti-guns” fund. HE He blamed NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN He was accused of being a “crook” in a recent interview over his claims about the US elections.
“You are a one-sided crooked network,” Trump told Welker. “I’m sorry. Let’s just leave it at that, because enough is enough. Thank you, darling. Have fun.”
Fox News Digital reached out to former President Barack Obama for comment but did not immediately hear back.
