Live updates: Trump’s Gaza comments draw fire; president will meet with Texas and California governors
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account this morning that he wants to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, nearly seven years after he withdrew from the landmark agreement reached by the Obama administration that sought to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote. “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens,’ ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”
Trump continued, “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”
Iranian officials have indicated they want to know if Trump wants to restart talks over their nuclear program, which they said in November has the capacity to produce nuclear weapons.
During his first term as president, Trump pulled the U.S. in 2018 out of the Iranian nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration despite warnings from President Barack Obama and others that withdrawing from the agreement could lead to war.
While meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday in the Oval Office, Trump warned Iran not to assassinate him.
“Well, they haven’t done that, and that would be a terrible thing for them to do, not because of me,” he told reporters. “If they did that, they would be obliterated. Going to be the end. I’ve left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left, and they should be able to do it.”
