Remarks transcript, Aug 2, 2026 (Donald Trump)

Hi, everybody. So go ahead.

What prompted you to call off the strikes last night?

I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by U.A.E., and by Qatar, and by Iran. We were all set to go, just about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack. We were all set to go. But when the allies asked to call it off, you've got to sort of say, "Well, let's see." And the reason they asked is they think there's a deal. There's a deal on Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. I call it the denuclearization of Iran.

What should we expect?

We're holding it. We'll just see. We can do it anytime we want. But we were asked by the three primary groups. We were also asked by Iran very strongly, actually. They said, "We'd like to make a deal." Now, you know, I don't know what they say because a lot of times they'll say that to me, and then they'll go out and say, "We don't know what he's talking about." Obviously, they don't want to be attacked.

And they knew—they knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming.

What happens now?

Well, now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon, and we'll see if it's true. I'd love to do that. Save a lot of lives. Save a lot of—a lot of unnecessary power, to be honest with you. It will take many, many years to ever build it back, if it could. I don't think it would be even buildable back.

So we had an attack that would be the biggest attack since World War II, and it would have been disastrous for them, and they didn't want us to do it. And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent.

Is there a deadline, sir, on——

And the deal is imminent having to do with the Hormuz Strait and also the—ultimately, the denuclearization of Iran. So when I hear that, I say, "Well, do we want to go and be this severe?"

Now, there's a group of people that would like me to just do it, and there's another group of people that does not want me to do it.

Mr. President, does Iran have a deadline to come to an agreement?

No. We'll just see how it is. We're ready to go anytime we want. Would I rather make a deal? I'm not looking to kill people, because people die, a lot of people die, and we don't want that.

So they asked us, Iran specifically, but the other three said, "We really"—I asked them, I asked Saudi Arabia, the King—I said—the Crown Prince—I said: "What would you rather do? Would you rather have us do this or not?" And they said, "We would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack," because you don't know where these attacks lead. I mean, will they be flooded with people pouring into their country and that disaster? A lot of—a lot of bad things can happen.

Sir, there's a report that you're moving U.S. troops out of Bahrain and Kuwait. Are troops being moved out of the Middle East?

I don't want to comment on that.

Mr. President, why is the U.S. intervening to support the Japan yen at this time?

Support who?

To support the Japanese currency.

Because we have a good relationship with Japan. We're very strong—very, very strong financially. They are—you know, they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help, and we're always there for Japan. Japan has been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.

Mr. President, what is the U.S. getting out of that arrangement?

Financial benefit. Financial benefit. And we also—it's also good for the world economy. But we make—like, when we did with Argentina—I got criticized—we made $25 billion on that deal. On Venezuela, we make hundreds of billions of dollars. I make good deals.

Intel, I made $75 billion, for the country. I didn't make for me; I made for the country. Intel. I backed Intel. It's the hottest stock right now on the New York Stock—on the various stock exchanges. So we made about $75- to $80 billion.

And Japan wanted to—it was really—more than anything else, it was a signal of friendship——

You said it——

——because the yen was weakening, and the dollar is doing great. The fact is our country is doing great. Everybody wants help from our country.

You said the anti-weapon——

Who are you with?

I'm with ABC News. You said the anti——

BBC?

ABC.

Oh, ABC. That's worse. [ Laughter ]

You said the anti-weaponization——

I like BBC better than ABC, actually.

Go ahead.

The anti-weaponization fund is back on the table. What are your plans——

No, if they don't improve. Look, we have a man named Todd Blanche. He's outstanding in every way. Most of you know who he is. You're not going to find a better person, and everybody agrees. And it's because I backed Cornyn's opponent, and his opponent won in a landslide. This is—that's the only reason it's happening.

But I will say there are a lot of people that like—people were hurt so badly. Twenty-two suicides. They were destroyed; their families were destroyed for doing things that—honestly, there's never been an attack on any group of people in this country, in my opinion—maybe one; there's one group that was attacked violently and viciously—like these people were attacked.

And this would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffer. A lot of people like it. If they don't—if they don't approve Todd, I put it back on the table. A lot of people like it. A lot of big supporters of Trump like it.

Mr. President, there's been some domestic abuse allegations against Congressman Max Miller.

Yes. I just heard about it.

Do you think he should resign?

Well, I'm going to look at it. I mean, so far, it's accusations. I'll be looking at it, yes.

Will the U.S. do anything to address OpenAI and Anthropic's models hacking other systems?

Should be. We're very much involved in that. We have a big stake in that. So does the world. So we're looking at it.

Sir, on Canada, have you decided on a punishment yet for the wildfire smoke?

I have, yes.

What is it? Can you share?

You'll find out about it soon. [ Laughter ]

Back on Iran. Were you prepared to hit energy targets?

I don't want to say that, Steve [Steve A. Holland, Reuters].

Okay.

We can't say that.

Okay.

It was going to be a massive attack. It was going to be an attack that would have been by far the biggest attack since World War II. But they've asked us not to do it. They said, "Please don't do it." And other—their neighbors said that too. And so we're just going to see whether or not we can make a deal for the denuclearization.

Tomorrow, some negotiations did you say? What——

Yes, well, they start tomorrow.

On Jay Clayton, what's your directive for him? He's supposed to——

Just do a great job. He's outstanding, as you know. He's an outstanding man. You look at his education. He was the head of—and he was immediately very early, at a young age, went to the head of Sullivan and Cromwell, one of the most prestigious—maybe the most prestigious law firm in the world. He headed up—well, let's see. I mean, look at the companies. Look at what he did. Oh, by the way, and he was a great—for 4 years, he was a great SEC Chairman.

Do you want him to continue the initiatives that you had Bill Pulte doing?

Well, I want him to do what he wants to do. He's an outstanding person. Everybody wanted him. And, really, I mean, he's truly outstanding.

Nancy Guthrie, the investigation into her disappearance, now 6 months long——

Yes, terrible.

stalled out. Is it time for the FBI to get involved?

Well, they are involved to an extent, but as you know, the local community really runs those things. And some people haven't liked the way the local communities run it. They haven't liked the way the sheriff's run it. But we would like to give them the benefit. But we're there anytime they need us. It's a terrible thing.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Thank you, sir.