President Donald Trump suggested that Iran moved personnel rather than its uranium out of its Fordow enrichment facility before last weekend’s U.S. strikes on the site.
In an interview with Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump spoke at length about Operation Midnight Hammer, praising the talent of the B-2 bomber pilots and saying they would be hosted at the White House soon. When asked about questions regarding the damage the airstrikes did, particularly reports that Tehran may have moved its enriched uranium elsewhere before the strikes, the president disputed the assertion.
“They didn’t move anything. You know, they moved themselves. They were all trying to live,” Trump said. “They didn’t move anything. They didn’t think it was going to be actually doable, what we did. And what we did was amazing.”
He went on to boast about the operation more generally, including the Tomahawk missile launches from “the greatest submarines in the world.”
Trump then dismissed concerns that Iran could restart its nuclear program, saying the pursuit of a nuclear bomb is “the last thing they’re going to be doing right now” after the losses incurred during the “12 Day War” with Israel and Operation Midnight Hammer.
“Well, they might not give up, but they’re going to give up for a while — they’re exhausted. They are exhausted. They took hits like nobody’s ever taken,” he said. “We went in. We destroyed their nuclear capability, and we stopped. It was a beautiful thing. And they couldn’t have gone on much further. … That was a very intense 12 days — very, very intense.”
After an outburst against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday, Trump returned to softening his rhetoric against the country, reasoning, “You get more sometimes with honey than you do with vinegar.”
“One of the things I was thinking about doing … you start waving [sanctions] for countries like if they behave themselves, like Iran, where they can sell oil and they can do the things that you want to be able to do. The sanctions are very powerful, and it makes it difficult. I’m not looking to make it difficult. I want them to have a good life,” he said.
TRUMP SAYS HE SAVED KHAMENEI FROM ‘VERY UGLY’ DEATH, SLAMS IRANIAN VICTORY CELEBRATION
The interview was recorded on Friday, so it’s unknown if Trump’s comments came before or after his outburst the same day over Khamenei declaring victory over the United States and Israel. In a Truth Social post, he suggested that he was pulling back his considerations of sanctions relief over the slight.
“His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life. I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’” Trump said of Khamenei.