Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump said Iran does not need to reach a deal for the U.S. to end its operations, In an Oval Office press availability on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said Iran does not need to reach a deal for the U.S. to end its operations.

REPORTER: Does Iran have to make a deal for the U.S. to end its operation in Iran — PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no. Iran doesn’t have to make a deal. REPORTER: And have you spoken directly? TRUMP: Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no. Yeah, I’ve spoken to a lot of people. It’s a new regime. They are much more accessible. They are right, you know. They said, we have a present for you, Mr. President, out of respect. And they said, [CROSSTALK] TRUMP: Wait a minute. You wanted me to answer the question. You’re a fresh person, you know. We’ve had a lot of problems with you, haven’t we? No, they don’t. You asked me a question. No, they don’t have to make a deal with me. When we feel that they are, for a long period of time, put into the stone ages, and they won’t be able to come up with a nuclear weapon, then we’ll leave. Whether we have a deal or not is irrelevant. Now, it’s possible that we’ll have a deal because they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal more than I want to make a deal. But in a fairly short period of time, we’ll be finished. They will not be able to do a nuclear weapon for years. And when they are ready, maybe in a long time from now, able to do a nuclear weapon, you’ll have a president that will be like me in that he will go there and he’ll knock the hell out of them again because they cannot have a nuclear weapon. They are very radicalized people. They’re very sick leaderships. And I will say, though, that the leadership we’re dealing with now, the new regime, because we have a new regime, and the new regime is much better than the past.

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