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451 next. They are begging to work out a deal. I don't know if we'll be able to do that. I
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don't know if we're willing to do that. Well, that's a change. Donald Trump speaking at the
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beginning of a cabinet meeting, talking about the situation with Iran. Simon Marx is LBC's
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Washington correspondent. What's changed now, Simon? He was all over the map again today, Tom.
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And I think it's worth making the point that more so than in any previous Trump appearance,
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this one was dominated by questions that were not being asked by reporters, but by paid
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propagandaists working on behalf of polemical publications and streaming channels. President
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Trump, as you said there, as you indicated there, said that talks are still going on with the
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Iranians, but he made it absolutely clear he's not desperate to do a deal with them.
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And I read a story today that I'm desperate to make. If I was desperate, he'd be the first to
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know me. Let's get that out of there. I'm the opposite of desperate. I don't care.
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I want to know. In fact, we have other targets we want to hit before we leave. We're hitting them
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on a daily basis. And as he indicated there, he still got a target,
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less even if a deal is struck. And the tenor of this presentation by the president today,
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really, I think, underscored the fact that he is digging in. We did get to hear from the man
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who has certainly been involved in many of those conversations through Pakistani mediators
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with Iranian officials, a U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Whitkopf.
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This has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks as you just indicated to the press.
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We will see where things lead. And if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point
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with no good alternatives for them, other than more death and destruction.
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And there was more criticism of Prime Minister Sakeer Starmer and America's NATO allies
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peppered throughout this TV appearance. This made for TV cabinet meeting with the president
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for the first time indicating that perhaps if NATO faces a crisis in Europe arising out of Russian
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aggression, the United States will not necessarily step up to the plate to defend countries,
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including our own. We're always going to be there, at least we were, I don't know about
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anymore, to be honest with you. I would have to be honest. We were always there when they needed
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help. We always would have been there when they needed help. But then out there to protect us,
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it doesn't make sense. All over the place, as you say Simon, and the deal that apparently has
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now been rejected by Iran includes things like the Strait of Hormuz being open again.
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Iran, either not having or having monitoring on a nuclear weapon, these are the things that
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existed prior to this war. So are we going back to the things that Donald Trump ripped up,
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like the JTPOA that he's got rid of in his first term? And we've just had to have a war and
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lots of people die in order to get us back to where we were. Well, I mean, you're absolutely right,
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Tom. All sorts of elements in that 15 point plan contain fresh questions about the president's
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own credibility. And even at this cabinet meeting today, there was the talk of the need
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to decommission and destroy Iranian nuclear sites that since last July, the White House has
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maintained were completely obliterated and destroyed during Operation Midnight Hammer. I mean,
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Steve Whitkoff, the special envoy, indicated that the talks in Geneva were going nowhere. He and the
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other Americans officials involved had concluded that the Iranians were just playing for time. They
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were hoping that a weaker president would eventually come to power in the United States. But that's
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not what the Omanis who were acting as mediators in Geneva say. So there's still this gap between
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reality and the White House version of events. Simon, as always, really appreciate it. Thank you so
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much for your time. Simon Marx is LBC's Washington correspondent.