Trey Yingst, chief foreign correspondent for FOX News, told “FOX & Friends Weekend” about his recent phone call with President Trump about his strategy going into the second round of negotiations with Iran in Pakistan, with three days remaining until the end of the two-week ceasefire. “The president was very clear. He told me, if they do not sign this deal, the whole country is going to get blown up,” he reported. <\/p>\n
TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: I just spoke with President Trump for about 20 minutes. And he told me, if Iran does not sign this deal, the whole country is getting blown up. He went on to say that bridges and power plants will be targeted if Iran does not sign this agreement. The president telling me that U.S. special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are heading to Islamabad, Pakistan, for meetings on Tuesday, possibly into Wednesday, to try and get this agreement across the finish line. The president telling FOX News this is a very simple deal, but this is the last chance for the Iranians, the president very clear in our conversation that he is not making the same mistake that President Obama made, giving cash to the Iranians and allowing them to continue a nuclear program. The deal on the table is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, to ensure that the Iranians do not have this highly enriched uranium that is buried deep underground after Operation Midnight Hammer last summer. And, again, the president telling FOX News that the entire country will be blown up, bridges and power plants will be targeted if the Iranians do not sign this agreement. This is a significant development, because we are in this less-than-72-hour window before the cease-fire between the United States and Iran expires. And the president has given the Iranians an opportunity for an off-ramp, an olive branch he is extending to the Iranian regime to avoid this region going back into war. And the president said the United States military is prepared. He said the U.S. has massive amounts of ammunition, even better munitions than they had in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, to use against the Iranian regime to target a variety of different positions across their country if they are not willing to make this good faith deal. And, again, he tells FOX News that his special envoys are headed to the Middle East and they are going to try and get this deal across the finish line. But this is in the hands of the Iranians if they are willing to make a good faith agreement. And if they are not, the president has indicated there will be significant strikes against the Iranian regime in response if this diplomatic effort does not succeed — guys. GRIFF JENKINS: Trey, in your conversation with the president, it hasn’t been talked much about lately, but there has been focus on Kharg Island because of its strategic proximity to — 90 percent of the crude oil goes through there. Did the president raise — I know he’s talked to you about bridges and power plants, but what about the oil infrastructure? YINGST: The president talked about the Strait of Hormuz and these violations of the cease-fire that were conducted by the Iranians yesterday, and President Trump telling me about how they’re using these small vessels to fire on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but they’re just using small ammunition. And despite the fact that they’re not doing much damage, it’s an indication that they are violating the cease-fire. And then the question is, well, why are they not doing much damage? And that is because more than 150 Iranian vessels are currently at the bottom of the sea. During Operation Epic Fury, the United States hammered the Iranian navy, and they had prepared for a possible confrontation with the United States, but not enough, because the U.S. was so successful in these strikes that much of the navy vessels the Iranians had prepared were not able to be used. And that is the reason that they have to use these smaller vessels to threaten international shipping lanes. And, again, this speaks to the success of Operation Epic Fury and just the inability of the Iranian regime to even respond and to violate the cease-fire in this manner. And so that is one of the key pillars of this broader agreement that President Trump is demanding the Iranian regime sign. They are going to keep open the Strait of Hormuz, they are going to release that highly enriched uranium that is buried deep underground in the aftermath of those U.S. strikes last summer, and they’re going to stop threatening U.S. forces across the region, the president tells me, or the Iranians are going to pay a heavy price. And that price is going to come at their power plants, their bridges, and the remaining infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime. The president said right now there is a divide between the hard-liners and the more moderates within the Iranian political leadership that remains. Remember, in the opening strikes of Operation Epic Fury, the United States and Israel took out the command structure of the Iranian regime. Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, was taken out in an airstrike, along with his top advisers. The Iranians were in disarray in these moments after Operation Epic Fury began because they were hit even harder than anyone in the region believed they were going to be hit. And, again, this speaks to the inability of the Iranians to not only defend their top leaders, but also defend their military structure. When we think about the threat Iran posed before Operation Epic Fury began, they were basically trying to get a nuclear weapon. They told negotiators they had enough highly enriched uranium for 11 nuclear bombs. And this was an indication to President Trump something had to be done to stop this regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But, remember, you have this threat from the Iranians that also includes ballistic missiles and drones. And as part of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump ordered strikes against the production facilities of the Iranian regime, hammering their ballistic missile production centers and the drone centers that were used to target U.S. forces and allies across the Middle East. And now President Trump tells me that bridges and power plants are back on the target list for the United States and, if Iran does not sign this agreement in Islamabad this coming week, the president will order strikes, he tells me, against power plants and bridges inside of Iran. This will be a major escalation. But the president told me — and he is expected, we also learned in that conversation, to release basically a letter today to the Iranians, with this tough talk, letting them know what is at risk for their regime if they do not make a good faith agreement. The president told me this tough talk is the only thing the Iranians understand. They don’t understand the traditional diplomacy and dialogue of the region. They understand firepower, the firepower that belongs to the United States military. And President Trump again told me they have massive amounts of ammunition prepared. If the Iranians are not willing to make that good faith agreement, they are going to hammer the regime, targeting those bridges, power plants, and what is left of the IRGC military infrastructure — guys. RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY: Trey, you were on our show in an earlier hour before this phone call with the president. And you and I discussed this regime. You said that there’s a faction, perhaps a more moderate versus a more radical wing of this regime. We don’t know which one is in charge. Maybe you do. Maybe you can let us know. But if the more radical wing is in charge, per our discussion earlier, then that means they’re crazy. And that means that this letter and this escalation may not have the results that we want, because they don’t care. They are just like, fine, let it all go. This is existential if we’re going to lose, so let’s all just die and go to heaven, I guess, or hell. So did you discuss that with the president in terms of the mental state and the outcomes that the mullahs and the radical wing want? YINGST: Yes. And I can tell you, having talked to the president multiple times throughout this war and prior to this conflict, the president understands exactly who he’s dealing with here. These are not traditional negotiators on the other side of the table. This is not a traditional regime. Even on our call today, President Trump brought up the protesters who were slaughtered in the streets of their country earlier this year. And the president multiple times said he would be there for them. And he targeted actually during Operation Epic Fury many of the Basij force commanders and those responsible for the crackdown against Iranian demonstrators who were peacefully protesting in the streets of their country. But, again, I think the fact the president continues to bring this up, he understands two things. He understands the Iranian population, more than 90 million people, and many of them are quietly supporting what President Trump is doing, pressuring a repressive regime that’s spent 47 years cracking down on their own people. But he also understands the negotiators and he understands the break in who’s actually calling the shots here. And it’s a great question, because even the Iranians are not clear on who is calling the shots. And while you have this divide between the hard-liners and the more moderates, even the Iranians can’t agree on their own position. We heard Iran’s foreign minister late last week saying the Strait of Hormuz is open, and then IRGC commanders saying it’s closed, and then yesterday firing on these vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. And, again, this speaks to the successful U.S. strikes against the regime and the command structure of the IRGC. But as it relates to who is at the negotiating table now, the takeaways that I had from this 20-minute call with President Trump were quite clear. It doesn’t matter to President Trump who is calling the shots in Iran right now. What matters is that they signed this agreement. And the president said, if they do not sign the agreement, he is going to target Iranian power plants and bridges. He is going to increase the strikes against the IRGC and go after the core that remains within Iran, because he told me this is a very simple agreement. It could be done in 10 minutes. They know what is on the table. All they have to do is sign the dotted line. And, so far, they have been unwilling to do so. And that is why President Trump told me that, on Tuesday, U.S. special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are headed back to the Middle East to try and get this deal across the finish line. And remember what we are looking at here. Now we understand. After this conversation with President Trump, I can tell you very clearly, we are looking at option A or option B. Option A is that the Iranians come to the table on Tuesday and they sign a good faith agreement that never allows them to have a nuclear weapon, that makes sure they give up their enriched uranium, and ensures that they open the Strait of Hormuz. Option B is that their power plants and bridges are going to be destroyed by the U.S. military, the strongest military in the world. And so they have a decision to make. And the president was very clear just before we got off the call. He told me, Iran has a decision to make. And the decision is either going to be an off-ramp that saves the lives of the leadership and the infrastructure of the country or the alternative. And the president told me he is prepared for both options. And, again, he is sending his negotiating team for one final effort to try and get this deal across the finish line. But the president was very clear. He told me, if they do not sign this deal, the whole country is going to get blown up. LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Trey, it’s Lucas. Great reporting. Vice President Vance led the negotiations last weekend in Islamabad. He’s not going on this trip to Islamabad. Why do you think that is? YINGST: It’s a great point. And I do want to just read something to you right here. As we are talking, the president has now posted on TRUTH Social about exactly what he told me during that conversation. He says, in part: “Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, a total violation of our cease-fire agreement. Many of them were aimed at a French ship and a freighter from the United Kingdom.” The president goes on to say: “That wasn’t nice, was it?” My representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan,” confirming what he told me on the phone earlier. “They will be there tomorrow evening for negotiations. Iran recently announced that they were closing the strait, which is strange, because our blockade has already closed it.” The president goes on to say in his post: “They’re helping us without knowing. And they are the ones that lose with the closed passage $ 500 million a day.” Now, it’s a very long post on TRUTH Social, and we will pull it up here, but the president later says: “No more Mr. Nice Guy. They will come down fast.” He’s talking about the bridges and power plants. And, again, that is what I gathered from my conversation with the president, that he is not playing games here. He is not bluffing. He is going to hammer the Iranian regime if they do not sign on the dotted line. The choice is theirs in the days ahead. CAMPOS-DUFFY: Can you respond to — I know the TRUTH Social came out, and we didn’t get an answer to the question of why you think J.D. Vance is not included in this negotiation team. YINGST: The short answer is, we understand that the vice president is still directly involved in these conversations and consultations. The president just yesterday at the White House held a situational assessment in the Situation Room, gathering top Cabinet officials, whether it was the Joint Chiefs chairman, the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, the vice president and others. And we understand that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was involved as well in that conversation. And so this is a full-court press by the Trump administration. A variety of officials are involved at many different levels. The United States is preparing not just on the diplomatic front, but also on the military front. And as the president has made clear on TRUTH Social and in our call earlier today, he is prepared for a variety of outcomes. But we are looking at two outcomes here, either a diplomatic solution or military action. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n