Trump: Iran Faces Deal or US Will ‘Knock Out Everything’

About Iran, what is the exit strategy? Well, I think there's a lot of them. There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal, and they want to make a deal. I just don't think they're ready yet, but they do want to make a deal. Sometimes they don't want to say they want to make a deal. They want to be the tough guys, but they do want to make a deal. There's two ways. I mean, you can just keep doing exactly what we're doing and take them apart piece by piece. We can do it at a more rapid fashion, which we might do, or we can negotiate with them, which we're also doing right now. I mean, as we speak, we're talking to them. And you said today that Russia and China are not helping. Earlier this week, the War Secretary Hegseth said that they are enabling. So what is the difference? Well, I don't know that they're enabling. I mean, I will tell you that President Xi said he will not partake, and President Putin said the same thing. I think, you know, I trust them. Do they? They've had a long-term relationship. There could be some things they do, but thus far, at least, it has not been major. I don't think they'd want to have me disappointed. It's a big deal. But really, when you get right down to it, it's not very complex. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. You know, very simple, actually. But it's a big deal. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. If they have even a thought of a nuclear weapon, we would just continue to go at much higher levels. But we are talking right now, and we'll see what comes of it. I'm not — you know, despite what everyone says about the election, I'm not in a hurry. I'm not in a hurry. We have to do it right. Elections take care of themselves. When you — you know, when I went into Venezuela, everybody was against it. Oh, what are you doing going into Venezuela? And then two days later, they said, Wow, that's fantastic. A lot of people are saying that with Iran already because it would take them 25 years to rebuild already from what they have. And again, as you know, no Navy, no Air Force, no anti-aircraft, no radar, no nothing. And then we — as you know, we just put up — reinstituted the — I guess you could call — I call it the iron wall on the water. Nothing gets through. Nothing. Blockade. Nothing gets through. And we sort of have to make a deal. But we are talking to them. I think they're being serious. I think they are being, by far, the most serious that we've seen. But that doesn't mean we get there. We'll see what happens. But I always prefer that alternative.