President Trump on Thursday told the “Fox & Friends” morning show that there would be “no more negotiation” with Iran after its leaders had strung him and the U.S. along for the past several weeks during a cease-fire in the conflict.
Co-host Lawrence Jones began the segment by noting that it appears as though the president has given Iran an ultimatum that they have to make a deal now or suffer the consequences.
“Well, that could happen if we want to keep going. And the deal is a very good deal. The problem with the deal — it could be the greatest deal in history. They could wave the white flag of surrender,” he said.
“‘We surrender. We’re finished. Praise be to Allah.’ And they could do all of this loud and clear, and the fake news would say it was a great victory for Iran,” the president went on.
“I mean, it’s the craziest thing. We’re killing them. They have no navy. No air force. No anti-aircraft. You know, we are flying planes over the middle of Tehran and they don’t have any idea. We’ve knocked out all their radar, all of their anti-aircraft, much of their missiles — probably less than 20%,” Trump added.
“Most of their launchers, the missile launches, which is quite important. Their drone capacity is way down. Their attacks are very minor. They’re finished,” he went on.
“And yet the fake news — just like with the election — the fake news is out there saying, ‘Wow, Iran is doing just so well. Trump is doing terribly.”
Trump said he watched a segment of “Morning Joe” Scarborough’s program Wednesday morning on MS NOW and couldn’t believe what the host was saying.
“I watched it yesterday, one of his shows for five minutes. Haven’t seen this show in a long while,” said Trump.
“This fake Joe Scarborough talking about how well Iran is doing. Where did that come from? It’s just the craziest thing,” he said.
On Wednesday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier said Trump told him he was still “cautiously optimistic” about the United States reaching a deal with Iran.
But the president warned that the U.S. military would be stepping up efforts in the coming days to push Iran into making a deal.
“We’re in the middle of this. I talked to him today, and there was this sense of optimism, not — I would say cautious optimism that they maybe get to a deal soon,” Baier said on “America Reports.”
“However, at the same time, you have the United Nations, Iran has introduced a new mechanism, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, to regulate maritime transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. That’s according to Iranian state media,” Baier added.
“Under the system, vessels intending to pass through the strait will receive guidance from an official email address outlining the rules for transit. Ships are required to comply with the framework and obtain prior authorization before crossing the waterway.’ That doesn’t seem like that’s going to fly,” Baier continued.
Trump also spoke with another Fox News figure on Wednesday and gave a slightly different update on the situation in Iran.
Trump personally warned Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst about impending U.S. military action against Iran just hours before American forces launched a new round of strikes targeting the country’s military infrastructure.
According to Yingst, Trump spoke with him by telephone from the Situation Room shortly before the attacks and described the operation that was about to unfold.
The president later confirmed through social media posts that he believed Iran would face severe consequences after negotiations failed to produce an agreement.
“Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
