BREAKING NEWS: Trump Takes Reporters' Questions After Announcing 10-Day Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire

Mr. President, anything to say to Prime Minister Melanie? Can you do something? Mr. President, you had a conversation on the Pope. Mr. President, on the Pope. The Pope criticized people who manipulate religion for political reasons. Do you think that he was talking about you, sir? It's very important that the Pope understands. It's very, very important. It would be nice not to say it. Iran killed 42,000 people that were totally unarmed. They were protesters. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If they did, every country, including Italy, where he's stationed, every single country in the world would be in trouble. So we're doing very well with respect to that. Having to do with the whole situation on Iran, the blockade is amazing. It's holding up very strong, very powerfully. And I think we're making a lot of progress on that. But the Pope has to understand Iran. Very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The world would be in great danger. Mr. President, would you meet with the Pope to even out nuance? I don't think it's necessary. Mr. President, you spoke with Prime Minister Modi just a couple of days ago. What was the conversation like? What is it that is on the table now? I had a very good talk with him. He's a friend of mine from India. And he's doing great. We had a very good conversation. Are you considering extending the ceasefire with Iran? With who? With Iran. We're doing very well, I can tell you. Maybe it'll happen before that. I'm not sure it needs to be extended. Just so you know, Iran wants to make a deal. And we're dealing very nicely with them. We've got to have no nuclear weapons. If we do, that's a big factor. And they're willing to do things today that they weren't willing to do two months ago. Do you have any news about Ukraine? Do you have any news regarding peace in Ukraine? I think there will. I think it's going to be – actually, it's very exciting. Because it's 48 years. We're going to be meeting with Bibi Netanyahu, as you know, and the President of Lebanon. And I had a great talk with both of them today. They're going to be having a ceasefire. And that will include Hezbollah. And I think it could be number 10 for me. Do you have any news regarding peace in Ukraine? Ukraine is moving along. I wish they could get along, frankly. A lot of people are dying in Ukraine. We'll see what happens. There are things happening there. We're focused so much right now on Iran, seeing if we can get that completed. And I think if you look, the stock market is good. The oil prices are coming down. And it's looking very good that we're going to make a deal with Iran. And it's going to be a good deal. It's going to be a deal with no nuclear weapons. Mr. President, when is the next in-person round of negotiations on the war in Iran? When will that take place? They're all important. I mean, it's not a question of a round. All of them are important. When will the next in-person meeting take place? Probably maybe over the weekend. Mr. President, will you send a vice president? Just so you understand, the blockade has been incredible. It's held. They're not doing any business. They're unable to do any business because of the blockade. And so the combination of having no Navy, having no Air Force, having no anti-aircraft equipment, they have nothing. Everything is gone, including their leaders. Now they have a new set of leaders, and we find them very reasonable. Mr. President, on the 20-year minimum to stop enriching uranium, would that be acceptable to you? Would that be acceptable to you, sir, if that's the final sticking point? What we have is we have a statement, a very powerful statement, that they will not have, beyond 20 years, that they will not have nuclear weapons. That's beyond. There's no 20-year limit. Mr. President, who are you rooting out for? I think that Todd Blanche is doing a very good job, from what I'm seeing. All I can say thus far, I think Todd Blanche is doing a very good job. Mr. President, will you extend the ceasefire? If there's no deal, would you be willing to extend the ceasefire, or will the fighting resume, Mr. President? I would say the fighting. If there's no deal, fighting resumes. Okay. And then on gas prices, how much longer will Americans continue to see these prices? Well, they're not very high. If you look at what they were supposed to be in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon, with the danger that entails. So the gas prices have come down very much over the last three, four days. I know, you know, and that's what ABC says. But the fact is that, if you look at the stock markets up, everything's doing really well. And the big thing we have to do is we have to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. Because if they do, you want to talk about problems, you'd have problems. So, very important is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. And they've agreed to that. Iran's agreed to that. And they've agreed to it very powerfully. They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that's way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers. So, we have a lot of agreement with Iran. And I think something's going to happen very positive. Very complicated subject. It's... I don't think we're waiting. I think we're moving very fast. It could happen pretty quickly. Say it. The what? We're doing very well with the blockade. It's very routine for us. The Navy is incredible. And I think the blockade is doing very well. It's... No ship is even thinking about entering. No ship is going past our Navy. No, no, I don't... I have to do what's right. The Pope has to understand that... It's very simple. I have nothing against the Pope. His brother is MAGA all the way. I like his brother, Louis. Why are you fighting with him? I'm not fighting with him. The Pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And if the Pope looked at the 42,000 people that were killed over the last two or three months as a protester with no weapons, no nothing... I mean, you take a look at that. So, I could disagree with the Pope. I have a right to disagree with the Pope. You can't have... Look, nothing... I have no disagreement with the fact the Pope can say what he wants. And I want him to say what he wants. But I can disagree. I think that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If they do, the whole world would be in jeopardy. The Middle East will be blown up and the whole world will be in jeopardy. We're very close to making a deal. That will be a great thing. The Pope has to understand Iran has killed more than 42,000 people over the last few months. Think of it. Protesters without guns, without anything. They were totally unarmed protesters. The Pope has to understand that. This is the real world. It's a nasty world. But as far as the Pope and saying what he wants, he can do that. Now, I know the Pope's brother. He is a big MAGA person. He's got MAGA all over his house. His name is Lewis. He's actually a great guy. And I'm sure the Pope is a great guy. I haven't met him. But I disagree with the Pope. If the Pope would allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, he can't do that. It's very exciting. With Lebanon, it's very exciting. I think we're going to have a deal. We're going to have a meeting, first time in 44 years. And Lebanon will be meeting with Israel, and they're probably going to do it at the White House. Over the next week or two. I do. I think we will have an agreement between Lebanon and they're going to take care of Hezbollah. But they're going to be working on Hezbollah right now. But we'll have an agreement between Israel, very importantly, and Lebanon. Will you support our Lebanese army as well? I will. Iran's going to Hezbollah. Iran's going to execute Hezbollah. Has Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire? I mean, how do you even think — They're all agreeing. It's a very nice little package for about a week. And we're not going to have lots of bombs dropping. And we're going to see if we can make peace between Lebanon and Israel. And just one more on the political president, because there was a group of bishops that did put out a statement saying the pope isn't merely exercising his opinion. He's preaching the gospel. I mean, what do you say to people that do that? Well, I want them to preach the gospel. I'm all about the gospel. But I also know that you cannot let a certain country, which is a very mean-spirited country, have a nuclear weapon. If they did, they would use it. And I think they'd use it quickly, and they would kill many millions of people. So, you know, the pope could disagree with me on that, but certainly we're allowed to have that. I'm all about the gospel. I'm about it as much as anybody can be. But I can't allow a president of the United States of America. I can't allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. And here's the story. They won't have. They've already agreed not to have. That's good news. And I think the pope will be very happy. Are Iran going to execute four more people, including a woman? No, I don't agree. I think we should have lower interest rates. Are Iran going to execute four more protesters accordingly, including the first woman protester? What do you tell Iran? Well, tell that to the pope. What did you say? Tell that to the pope. You want to patch things up with the pope? That Iran is going to execute four people, Did you just hear that? Iran is going to execute four people, including a woman? President Trump, the Lebanese love you so much. Do you extend the ceasefire? What makes you extend the ceasefire? I don't know if we're going to have to, but if we need to, I would do that. So, if you look at the oil and if you look at the price we're paying, it's about half what people thought it would be if you did what I had to do. We had to take this journey to the Middle East in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon. There would have been, if we didn't hit it with the B-2 bombers, or if I didn't kill the Barack Hussein Obama deal, the nuclear deal, which was a disaster, we would have had nuclear weapons exploding in the Middle East and beyond. I believe I've been able to stop that. I think we have a very successful negotiation going on right now. And I think it'll be, if it happens, it'll be announced fairly soon. And that'll give us free oil, free harmonestrate. Everything will be nice. And I think your oil price will go down to lower than what it was before. And I think a lot of good things will happen. The Presss Just for clarity, you're willing to extend the ceasefire if there is no deal? The President So, we'll see. I don't know if we'll have to. Ideally, we'll have to, but if I needed to, I would. The Press The Lebanese people love you so much. What do you say? The Lebanese people love you so much. What's your message for them? And you will visit Lebanon after this deal? The President I will do that. At the right time, I would certainly go there. The Press Do you think this war in Ukraine — you know, Putin doesn't want to stop it, apparently. He keeps bombing Ukraine. Do you think this war has the potential to go on for years more? The President Well, it should have been. It should have never started. If I were President, the war in Ukraine never would have started with Russia. But it's going on. Hopefully, it'll get over soon. The Press The First Lady came out last week and said she had no links with Jeffrey Epstein. The President Who did? The Press The First Lady, Melania Trump. The President She had none. The Press Why did she come out and say that last week? The President Because the fake news was saying she did, and she had none. And I think that's been proven. It bothered her that the fake news was being fake news, so she just wanted to clarify that. The Press Are you surprised? The Press Who's taking care of Hezbollah? Do you think that they are destroying the deal that you're trying to make? The President We're going to see how it all works out. But they'll be working and coordinating, if you know — you know Lebanon, right? So they'll be working with Hezbollah. The Press Is it a fire in JPEG? The President What? Well, we'll see. I mean, we have a very good relationship with Iran right now, as hard as it is to believe. And I think it's a combination of about four weeks of bombing and a very powerful blockade. The blockade is maybe more powerful than the bombing, if you want to know the truth. The Press Are you going to make the Arab countries pay a cost? The President I think they'll make that — I think they're going to make that contribution. I think the Arab countries, because we've done a lot, I think they'd make a contribution toward the cost. The Press Have they been involved? The President Not been involved. The Press Are you going to make a deal with Iran? The President We're going to see what happens. But I think we're very close to making a deal with Iran. You'll be the first to know. But I think we have a chance. And if that happens, oil goes way down, prices go way down. Inflation goes way down. And you're going to have — much more importantly than even that, you won't have a nuclear holocaust. The Press Are you going to make a deal with Iran? The President Are you going to make a deal with Iran?