President Trump, during an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” denied that the attack on Iran breaks a campaign promise not to start any new wars or get involved in Mideast quagmires. “I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” he said. “I said: “I have to do this country, this world, the Middle East, Israel, everybody a favor.” “They’re nuts, okay? They’re crazy people. I deal with them,” Trump said about the Iranians. “I’m doing our country a service.” “You say I promised, I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months,” Trump said. “I don’t think it’s an unpo – I mean, you’ll do polls, but they’re all fake polls anyway, especially yours,” he continued. “The reason I won an election is that people have confidence in me. I have good judgment. I had to make a judgment.”

KRISTEN WELKER: I’d like to talk big picture now, Mr. President. One of your consistent campaign promises was no new wars, going all the way back to 2015. Did you break that promise to the American people? PRES. DONALD TRUMP: No. I had to stop a country, very powerful, very dangerous country, from having a nuclear weapon because they’d use it. They’d blow up the world. They’d blow up the Middle East. They’d blow up Israel. They’d come here. They’d blow up Europe. They’re nuts, okay? They’re crazy people. I deal with them. And very high-strung people. Little crazy. And – I get along with them. I like them. But you don’t want to let them have a nuclear weapon. And I’m doing the world a service, but I’m doing our country a service. You know, it’s America first. I’m doing our country a service. Nice rain. … KRISTEN WELKER: So you’re saying you didn’t break your promise. And yet, Mr. President, in your first term, you held to that promise and it was so fundamental to who you were as a candidate, to a first-term president. What changed, because you insisted no new wars? PRES. DONALD TRUMP: Well, well. First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world? I built our military. I inherited a terrible military. We had no equipment. We had nothing. I built a tremendous military. Biden gave a lot of it away, but it’s still a relatively small portion compared to what I built. KRISTEN WELKER: But you said it over and over again, Mr. President. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Why would I build a military – Now, I didn’t want to use this, but I’m doing you and everybody else a big favor. In the midst of the greatest stock market in history, in the midst of the most successful country because, as you know, in the last term, we were a dead country, Kristen. I know you, you’re a big liberal, a big progressive. KRISTEN WELKER: No. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: But we were – KRISTEN WELKER: I’m just a journalist. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: We were a dead country. A year ago, couple of years ago, we were a dead country. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. And at the all-time hottest point, which is probably now, believe it or not– we’ve just had all brand new stock market records today. But at the hottest point in the history of our country, I took Scott, Howard, I took Pete, I took everybody into a room. I said, “I have to do this country, this world, the Middle East, Israel, everybody a favor. You have Iran. They’re going to have a nuclear weapon. Barack Hussein Obama signed the JCPOA. It was a horrible deal. Horrible deal. Listen to me. It was a horrible deal. It was a path to them getting a nuclear weapon. They were very close to having a nuclear weapon. I terminated the deal. Wait. Then I sent the B2 bombers in about nine, ten months ago. And they obliterated, totally obliterated, the site. And I saved it. We had a choice. We could let them have a nuclear weapon, or we could go along and have some beautiful days. But they would have, you know, it’s a judgment. They would’ve used a nuclear weapon. And you know what? When people hear that whole scenario, when they hear me say, “Iran’s going to have a nuclear weapon, and they’re crazy, they say, “You’re doing the right thing.” I don’t think it’s an unpo – I mean, you’ll do polls but they’re all fake polls anyway, especially yours. But you do polls. I just won a big election. And the reason I won an election is people have confidence in me. I have good judgment. I had to make a judgment. Do I want to go along and have a country that’s doing really well, but somebody is going to try and kill us? Or do I want to put out that horrible threat? And I did. It put it out. I put it out for many, many years. Now, I’m going to put it out permanently. I’m going to do it either through negotiation, where we’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them, to be honest with you. And it’s going to be very easy for me to do that. That’s actually the easier path. So when you say I promised, I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months. Much of it has been under the form – a pretty good form of ceasefire. The blockade has been amazing. Our Navy is amazing. Our military’s the best in the world. Hey, we took over a very powerful country, Venezuela. Lot of soldiers. Big, strong military. We took over Venezuela in a matter of minutes. We destroyed the capability of Iran in a matter of days. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Now I’m going to finish it. But remember, you were in Vietnam 19 years because of stupid people. You were in so many different countries. Every war, you were in for years. Look at Iraq. You were there for years. Listen. Kristen. We’re there for a few months. And the threat is largely over. Soon, it will be over. But you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or they will blow you up. There will be no Kristen. There will be no NBC. There will be no Meet the Press. You will end the Meet the Press string. KRISTEN WELKER: Let me ask you though, during your 2016 campaign, you called the Middle East a quagmire. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: It is. KRISTEN WELKER: What makes you so sure this won’t become a quagmire? PRES. DONALD TRUMP: We’re not going to be there. KRISTEN WELKER: You’re convinced this won’t become a quagmire? PRES. DONALD TRUMP: It’s not a quagmire. Just wiped out the military of a very dangerous country. And I wiped out the nuclear threat. Let me tell you, if we left tomorrow, we just said, “All right, let’s get out,” it’ll take them 15 or 20 years to rebuild back. But I’m not going to give them even that chance. Not going to give them that chance. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. And if there was even a 1% chance that they’d have it, I wouldn’t leave. We’re almost finished. We’re going to either have a deal, a strong deal, a meaningful deal, not like the Obama thing. Obama was a path to a nuclear weapon. Mine is the exact opposite. Mine is a wall. It’s a wall, just like I built 1,000 miles of wall on our southern border. And, by the way, I took the worst border in history, and I made it the best border in history in a matter of weeks. KRISTEN WELKER: And yet, Mr. President, Iran was the closest to developing weapons-grade uranium after you ripped up the nuclear deal because there were no guardrails in place. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me. They were developing it during the nuclear deal. You don’t know that? Iran, when Obama signed that stupid deal where he paid them billions, and billions of dollars. He thought he could bribe them. Listen to me. They were developing a nuclear weapon. That’s how they got there. They got all of this uranium during Obama. You know that, don’t you? Well, that’s how they got there. Don’t say this. They got there. They developed it during the Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, during his administration. KRISTEN WELKER: And they’ve escalated their development after the deal was ripped up. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: They didn’t escalate anything. KRISTEN WELKER: Let’s talk about the economy. Let me just tell you something. If I didn’t go in there with the B2 bombers, they would right now have a nuclear weapon, and it could be that half of the world would be eradicated already.
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