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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Meets With Irish Prime Minister Amid War With Iran; Diplomats Fuming As White House Shuns Traditional Channels; U.S. Allies Balk At Trump's Appeal To Secure Strait Of Hormuz; Iran wants Its Men's World Cup Matches Moved From U.S. To Mexico; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired March 17, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I read his statement. I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on
security, very weak on security. I didn't know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy.
But when I read his statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every
country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it.
And many people, many of the greatest military scholars, are saying for years that the president should have taken out Iran because they wanted a
nuclear weapon. They were -- if we didn't do the attack, or if I'll go a step further, if I didn't terminate the Iran nuclear deal given to us, one
of the worst deals ever made by Barack Hussein Obama.
Remember when they said Boeing 757s over there? Loaded with cash. Hundreds of millions of dollars. You would have been very happy. This was a
wonderful -- they sent hundreds of millions. People forget that. Does anybody remember? Right? You remember.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in a Boeing 757, I think they had two of them loaded. They took the seats out and they put cash. And it was so much
that there wasn't a bank in Virginia, Maryland, or D.C. that had any money left. They stripped them of all their money, put it into place, sent it to
Iran almost as ransom. That's not going to happen with Trump.
And nobody ever did anything about it. Nobody ever said anything. Can you imagine if I did that? So, they've been a threat for a long time. But
they've really been a threat -- if I didn't terminate Obama's horrible deal that he made, the Iran nuclear deal, you would have had a nuclear war four
years ago.
You would have had nuclear holocaust. And you would have had it again if we didn't bomb the site. So, when somebody is working with us that says they
didn't think Iran was a threat, we don't want those people because -- and there are some people, I guess I would say that, but they're not smart
people or they're not savvy people.
Iran was a tremendous threat. And, virtually, every NATO nation -- and this is the thing. If they told me, it wasn't a threat and, therefore, they
don't want to help. But when they say it was a threat and it was a major threat, every one of them, I think every one of them -- I don't know of one
that said they're not a threat. But when they say it was a threat but we're not going to help, I think they're very foolish.
You know, it's interesting. It's interesting because I could say this, that what's happening in Ukraine, we're probably in there for $400 billion. We
don't spend any money anymore. They buy it from us and they pay full price. But Biden gave them between $350 and $400 billion of equipment and cash.
Somebody would have to find out about the cash.
And you could say that wasn't a threat. You know, we're helping them. So, we helped them, and they didn't help us. And I think that's a very bad
thing for NATO.
QUESTION: Are there any repercussions for NATO? And are you still going to China?
TRUMP: Well, yeah. On China, it's a little different story. We're resetting the meeting, and it looks like it'll take place in about five weeks. We're
working with China. They were fine with it. We're going to -- I look forward to seeing President Xi. He looks forward to seeing me, I think. But
I do look forward to seeing him.
We have a good relationship with China. China actually has become, economically for us, very good. Very good, as you know. It's much different
than it was in the past. And we have a very good working relationship with China. So we're making it in about five or six weeks.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: (inaudible) for not supporting you on -- on this? Any repercussions?
TRUMP: Well, no, I just think that it's not good for a partnership when they say, "What you're doing is a great thing, but we're not going to
help."
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: They say, "What you did is -- what you did is a great thing, but we're not going to help."
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: In Iran, as the Iranian regime has told Sky News, if you put boots on the ground in Iran, it will be another Vietnam. Are you afraid of
that?
TRUMP: No, I'm not afraid of -- I'm really not afraid of anything.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Are you rethinking -- are you rethinking on the United States' relationship with NATO, possibly getting out? Or...
TRUMP: Well, I'm disappointed in NATO, that we spend trillions of dollars on NATO. Think of it: trillions over the years, many trillions of dollars.
It's one of the reasons we have deficits. And we help other countries, and when they don't help us, I mean, it's certainly something that we should
think about. I don't need Congress for that decision, as you probably know. I can make that decision myself. I work with some very smart people. And
I'd always deal with Congress anyway, but I don't need Congress for that decision. But you know, when you -- when you say rethink, I'm not -- I have
nothing currently in mind.
[12:05:00]
But I will say that I'm not exactly thrilled when we helped them with Ukraine. Look, Ukraine would've been over in one day if we didn't help.
Frankly, Ukraine would've been over on the first day. They had the best equipment in the world. It was our equipment, given by "Sleepy Joe Biden",
no charge, no charge, hundreds -- hundreds of billions of dollars of the best equipment in the world, no charge.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I will say that I'm not happy about it.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Several questions, one on Iran and one on Cuba. Is Iran now a bigger foreign policy priority for you than China? And on Cuba, the Cuban
government...
TRUMP: Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is something that was essentially, largely over in two or three days, because the navy was wiped
out almost immediately. The air force came next. The antiaircraft came next. I mean, we're flying over Iran. We could take out their electric
capacity in one hour. We have all the -- there's nothing they can do right now because everything is knocked out. They have no -- again, no radar, no
antiaircraft. They have nothing. And we don't -- and it was a decision I made. We discussed it -- Pete, Marco, J.D. -- all of us -- Chris. We
discussed it. We can knock out their electricity in a matter of minutes if we wanted to. There's nothing they can do about it. We can knock out their
oil in Kharg Island. We -- the -- the only thing we didn't take out was their oil because if we knock out -- I call them the pipes -- very complex.
But if you do that, it'll take them forever to rebuild, meaning whoever -- and hopefully, it's a sane group of people. But whoever it is that's going
to be running that -- and we're going to try to get people that are going to run it well, and you know, it's going to be a prosperous, wonderful
place.
It used to be. You know, if you go back, it used to be a very -- the people are great. The people are smart and energetic, and it used to be very
successful. Now, it's a country run by fear. It's a country where they tell protesters, "Don't go outside, because if you do, we're going to kill you."
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Well, Cuba right now is -- is in very bad shape. They're talking to Marco, and we'll be doing something with Cuba very soon.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We're really -- we're really focused on this. But we're dealing with Cuba.
Marco, do you want to say a couple of words about it?
SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, Cuba has an economy that doesn't work and a political and governmental system that can't fix it. So
they have to change dramatically. What they announced yesterday is not dramatic enough. It's not going to fix it. So we've got some big decisions
to make over there.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Secretary -- Secretary Rubio, do you support -- and I know this is up to Congress, but do you support easing the Cuban -- the trade embargo
if you get more cooperation from Havana?
RUBIO: Well, I'm not going to discuss what we would talk about or not. Suffice it to say that the embargo's tied to political change on the
island. Their law, it's been -- their embargo's codified, and -- but the bottom line is their economy doesn't work. It's a non-functional economy.
It's an economy that has survived. It's an -- the -- for 40 -- the -- that revolution -- it's not even a revolution. That thing they have has survived
on subsidies from the Soviet Union, and now, from Venezuela. They don't get subsidies anymore, so they're in a lot of trouble. And the people in charge
of it, they -- they don't know how to fix it, and so they have to get new people in charge. That's what (inaudible)...
TRUMP: And the relationship we have with Venezuela has been -- I think you can almost say incredible. It's been really good. It's been good for
Venezuela, and it's been good for us.
And I congratulate the Venezuelan baseball team, because that was a big -- that was a big win, and I guess they'll play another game tonight in the
finals. And I said, a lot of good things have happened to Venezuela lately. This is the first time they've ever been in the finals, and it was pretty
exciting.
Yeah?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Iran -- Iran is just a military operation to you, but do you not have a day-after plan? And if so, what is your day-after plan for Iran?
TRUMP: Well, we have a lot. Look, if we -- if we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild. But we're not ready to leave yet, but we
-- we'll be leaving in the near future. We'll be leaving in pretty much the very near future. But right now, they've been decimated from every
standpoint.
And again, we've had great support from countries in the Middle East, great support, but we've had no support from -- essentially no support from NATO.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: What about your relationship with London? Has -- has it been damaged by the fact that Keir Starmer hasn't supported you thus far? And
has your opinion of Keir Starmer changed because of this?
TRUMP: Well, he hasn't been supportive, and I -- I think it's a big mistake. You know, they make a lot of money on trade with the United
States. I -- I did -- I went out of my way, as you know.
[12:10:00]
They couldn't make a deal with -- with Biden because they had no real administration to make a deal -- Biden. But we made a deal. We made a good
deal for them, and frankly, probably wasn't appreciated. I do look forward to seeing the king. He's be -- going to -- he's going to be coming, as you
know, very shortly.
But -- but no, I was disappointed because Keir was willing to send two aircraft carriers after we won, because essentially, we're -- there's no
threat for the aircraft carriers right now. And I said, "No, no, we want things sent before the war, not after the war is won." So yeah, I'm
disappointed with Keir. I like him. I think he's a nice man, but I'm disappointed.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: You see that man right there? You know who that is?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: That's the late, great Winston Churchill, and Barack Hussein Obama did not want his bust in this office. Did you know that? And Barack Hussein
Obama sent that bust back to England. He didn't -- they didn't want it. And when I came in, I was asked if I wanted it. I said, "Absolutely, I want
it," and I put it right there, Winston Churchill. And you know, unfortunately, Keir is not Winston Churchill.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: No, no. Hold it. Right here.
(CROSSTALK)
AOISEACH MICHEAL MARTIN OF IRELAND: Just, could I...
TRUMP: Hold it. Hold it.
MARTIN: ... just make a number of points?
First of all, I think notwithstanding what has happened, the transatlantic relationship between Europe and the U.S. is very, very important on a
number of fronts, and I think we've had issues over the last year to -- but we've settled them.
And I think many of these leaders engage with a view, particularly on trade -- and as you remember, all of the fuss last year -- but we got a landing
zone between Europe and the U.S., and I think we can get a -- a landing zone again.
And I think I just met with Keir Starmer last week. The British-Irish relationship is a very important one. Churchill was a great wartime leader,
although in Ireland, there was kind of a different perspective in terms of...
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: ... he created his own bit of difficulties for us. But that said, he was a great wartime hero.
Keir Starmer has done a lot to reset the Irish-British relationship. I just want to put that on the record. But I do believe that he's a very earnest,
sound person who I think you have a capacity to get on with, and you've got on with him before, and you've got on with other European leaders as well.
TRUMP: That's right.
MARTIN: And I think you have that capacity again.
And I think everyone expects some -- I mean, you cannot have a rogue state with a nuclear weapon or the capacity for a nuclear weapon. Iran was the
sponsor of terrorism. We sanctioned Iran, all -- all European countries did as a terror -- and the IRGC in particular as a terrorist organization.
They've sponsored Hamas, they've sponsored Hezbollah, they did -- Houthis, they created mayhem, a most maligned force in the Middle East.
The Irish position has always been ultimately can we resolve this -- the -- to -- you know, can we get peace? And obviously there are some
preconditions before you get to that situation. We have our own conflict which we've (inaudible) for 30 years and we learned a lot from that in
terms of how to try and bring about peace.
And I think I listened to you in terms of -- I mean, you're correct. I mean, our hearts go out to the Iranian people who have been repressed and
suppressed for so many time -- so many years, culminating in that savage murder of thousands and thousands of Iranians some months ago. And...
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: ... just -- no one's in a position to do anything and -- about that.
And I think -- and likewise, with Ukraine, I mean, the Russians did invade Ukraine, have attacked civilian infrastructure, and so on like that. And
for the people of Ukraine who just want peace and an opportunity to live, I think there is, I think -- we have to continue to work to see can we bring
peace, different regime to Iran, where Iranians can live in peace again and the people in the Middle East can live in peace? And you're doing your bit
there in terms of the work in Gaza and so on like that.
And I think that's what we -- that's what we want, is a peaceful resolution of conflict. That's what we come from as a small nation.
TRUMP: Right.
MARTIN: We've been peacekeepers all our lives. And we're -- we're the longest-serving nation in terms of provision of peacekeeping forces in the
world, as it turns out. But we -- we think ultimately all conflicts come to an end, and I think we have to try and work towards that end. And I'm sure
European leaders and the U.S. administration will engage and hopefully we can get a -- a -- a landing zone so...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I mean, the only thing -- and I -- I agree with everything he said - - but we helped with Ukraine...
MARTIN: Yes.
TRUMP: ... and they don't help with Iran. And they all acknowledge that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. You yourself say, you know, these were --
these are horrendous people. These are the worst people in -- going back to Hitler, right? Going back to Hitler, these are the worst people. That's a
long time ago. And there's been nothing close.
[12:15:00]
Every problem, every -- so many deaths -- 90 percent of the people that got blown up by land mines and -- land mines -- they loved them -- you know,
Soleimani, we killed him. If we didn't do it, it might be a different story because he was a horrible person but he was a very powerful person and
leader, and smart. But we killed him. If we didn't, I think you'd have a -- I did -- but I think maybe we'd have a different situation. It wouldn't
have been so easy as it has been, because it has been very easy.
You know, it's a -- all of their military's out, but you could always have somebody drop a mine in the water. That's -- it -- it looks like terrorism.
MARTIN: Yep.
TRUMP: And then you have the people that own the billion-dollar ships saying, "Well, let's not move that ship yet because we want" -- so we
thought that Europe would help that because they do have some minesweepers.
But it's amazing that, you know, they all said, "What a great job." They would call me, saying -- congratulating us on the great job we did with
respect to Iran and we knocked the hell out of them. They're no longer the bully of the Middle East. They were known as the bully of the Middle East,
and they're not the bully anymore.
But you would have thought they would have said, "We'd love to send a couple of minesweepers. It's not a big deal, it doesn't cost very much
money," but they didn't do that. So, you know, it -- it's a -- a -- I -- I think it's very unfair to the United States, not to me but to the United
States.
A -- a -- a -- go ahead, please.
QUESTION: Keir Starmer isn't making...
TRUMP: You are -- she's a fantastic reporter, by the way. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you. The Prime Minister isn't making the case to the British public as to why he should be supporting you. Could you do that
now, talk to the UK? The GB News view is about why it's in their interests that we help you.
TRUMP: Well, because we have a tremendous long-term relationship with the UK. I mean, a -- people would say it's the best. I don't want to get into
that, but we've had -- it was the longest, the oldest. It should be the best.
Always was the best until Keir came along, and now -- and I like him, he's a nice man, he says everything beautiful, he's a very nice man with a
beautiful family, everything's perfect, but he -- he doesn't produce.
And I think it's -- it's very inexpensive. I just said, "You don't have to send me aircraft carriers. Send me a couple of minesweepers. We don't need
your aircraft carriers." But even the aircraft carriers, he would only send them after we essentially won. I mean, he's sending them when there are no
planes left, when the missiles are down to eight percent. They have, like, eight percent of the missiles. We -- the rest, we demolished, the missiles.
And the factories -- largely, the factories are going even as we speak. They just hit another factory. They may have a lot of -- they have a lot of
missile factories, they have a lot of drone factories.
And so he's -- you know, wants to send them when we don't need them. But we'd like to have minesweepers because -- just in case. We don't know that
there are any mines now because we wiped out, I think, 24 -- actually have, think of this for a country -- they have 24 boats that do nothing but put
mines in the water. This doesn't sound like a great country, this doesn't sound like a friendly country. But we killed all of those boats. They're at
the bottom of the sea.
But we're -- so we don't even know if there are any mines there, but if there are, you know, we'd like to have a little help in finding them, most
-- probably most importantly.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... you have confidence in Keir Starmer? Would you prefer to deal with...
TRUMP: Well, it's not for me, it's really -- it's for -- it's really for the people of the UK to have confidence in...
QUESTION: Of course, but is he...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: ... I've been very critical of Keir, and I did it in a friendly way. I said, "If you don't change your energy problem -- thing -- you -- and get
away from windmills and go back to oil and gas and -- you know, you own -- you have something that's -- no other country has -- very few countries
have anything like it, the North Sea -- you have some of the greatest oil and oil deposits in the entire world, the North Sea." They don't use it.
"You buy a lot of your oil from Norway. You know where they get their oil? From the North Sea. And you pay a very big price. So why are you paying a
lot of money" -- and I tell them -- and they -- you have the better part of the North Sea.
So why aren't they taking the oil from the North Sea? Why are they buying oil from Norway? But they have windmills all over the country destroying
those gorgeous Scottish fields and those beautiful fields all over the -- windmills which don't work. They're tremendously expensive.
TRUMP: And the best testament to that is the windmills are made in China but China doesn't use them. You know what China uses? Coal. They're
building 58 coal-fired plants right now, and that's up to them. But these foolish countries that are buying windmills, putting them out of business.
I'm proudly telling you that we're going to try and have no windmills built in the United States during my -- they're very bad. They're very bad
environmentally. They kill the birds. They're unsightly. They make a lot of noise. And for some reason, the environmentalists love windmills, OK?
[12:20:00]
QUESTION: You said he's a nice man...
TRUMP: I think he's a nice man. I think he's a nice man, but I disagree with him on two things, primarily immigration. His immigration policy is a
disaster, and his energy policy is a disaster. And they're about the biggest policies you can have.
You've allowed millions and millions and millions of people to come into your country that shouldn't be there. And by the way, that's all over
Europe. Europe is a different place. It's a different place.
And, you know, I originate, to put it nicely, I originate, many of us do, from Europe. I love Europe. I've spent a lot of time in Europe. It's a
different place. Bad things have happened to Europe, very bad things. And you better do something about immigration, and you better do something
about energy, or you won't have a Europe.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what's your timeframe, Mr. President, from when cargo ship safely (inaudible)?
TRUMP: It won't be -- I don't believe, too long. We're knocking the hell out of the coast. It's basically the coast and the water and it won't be
too long. And the Middle Eastern states, including Israel, by the way, who has been terrific, the Middle Eastern states have been helping us a lot.
Please. Go ahead. You, please.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what would you say to the people in Ireland who are opposed to the war in Iran?
TRUMP: Well, I think the people in Ireland are very happy that I'm getting rid of -- I have a lot of friends from Ireland, they're very happy that I'm
getting rid of a nuclear power, a nuclear terrorist. And as soon as that war is over, which will be soon, your prices are going to drop like a rock.
You watch. I've been very good at predicting.
Go ahead in the back.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what do you think common stock dropped (inaudible)?
TRUMP: Say it?
QUESTION: What do you think of our president's comments?
TRUMP: Can you speak? You're speaking right into your phone.
QUESTION: Mr. President, how do you respond to the increasing attacks by the Iraqi militia groups against the U.S. embassy and consulate in the
Kurdistan region?
TRUMP: You want to answer that? Do you want to?
VANCE: Yeah. Well, Marco, obviously the Secretary of State, has control over the embassy. Look, there have been a lot of militia attacks against
our base, our embassy in Iran. I think Marco's done a good job of limiting the number of people who are at that embassy so we can provide essential
functions, but also protect our people. But it goes to show there are a lot of terrorists in that region of the world, and we've got to eliminate them
when we find them.
TRUMP: And you can't give them nuclear weapons. You can give them rifles. You can give them guns. You can't give them nuclear weapons. I think we
agree very strongly. Very strongly agree.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what's your take on the immigration law?
TRUMP: Yes, excuse me.
MARTIN: First of all, I would say Europe is still a very good place to live in.
TRUMP: Good. I'm glad to hear that.
MARTIN: And our view is you have to have robust and fair rules around migration. But on the other hand, a lot of people within the European
Union, we have free mobility of people. And in Ireland, our population is growing, but in a very positive way.
Our economy is going well because we're attracting a lot of people from Europe and beyond into work legally and validly in our country. In fact,
I'd love if we could develop a legal pathway between the U.S. and Ireland into the future because of our history and so on like that, that we could
have a legal pathway because no one is in favor of illegal migration and so forth. So, you have to have robust rules for that.
But fundamentally, I think sometimes Europe gets characterized wrongly in terms of it being overrun or whatever like that. It's much more robust now.
There's a much stronger mechanism in place to facilitate legal migration.
And I think it's important that our understanding is that we need more economic growth in Europe. It doesn't have the same focus on innovation as
you do here in the U.S. We discussed that earlier with the Vice President in terms of technology, in terms of AI. We need to pivot more to innovation
as opposed to regulation. And I think investing in people, you know, and that's the key to, I think our collective future. We do take their lessons.
We are doing things and taking them.
QUESTION: The presidents has said that your war against Iran is illegal. It's an attack on international law.
TRUMP: Who said that?
QUESTION: The Irish president.
TRUMP: Look, he's lucky I exist. That's all I can say. Because if you're going to allow countries that are sick and demented, and they are demented,
to have nuclear weapons -- everybody in the whole world should be very thankful.
[12:25:00]
And I'm disappointed in NATO, very disappointed. I'm disappointed in a couple of other countries, too, but they should be very thankful that this
group of people feels the way we do.
Because if a country like Iran was allowed to have the power of a nuclear weapon, if we didn't stop them -- I stopped them twice. I stopped them my
first term when I terminated the Iran nuclear deal, which was Barack Obama's deal. It was maybe the worst deal I've ever seen.
It gave everything to Iran, including billions of dollars in green cash. I don't mean cash. I mean green cash flown over by airplanes. I can't, to
this day, believe that was allowed to happen. And come to think of it, it would be a good thing for somebody to look at. How could -- does the
president have the power to hand hundreds of millions of dollars of cash to terrorists?
But it began with that, and I terminated that deal. If I didn't terminate that deal, we might not be here right now. If I didn't terminate that deal,
unbelievable nuclear holocaust would have taken place.
And then I did it a second time when we hit them with the B-2 bombers, and we totally obliterated their potential nuclear weapon that they would have
had in less than one month. They think two weeks, but in less than one month. And it would have been -- I believe it would have been a much
different world than it is right now.
We have to go. We're going to a lunch, so maybe we'll take one more nice question.
QUESTION: Can I ask you how you're doing with your legal case against the BBC and their fake news documentary?
TRUMP: Well, BBC was incredible. What they did is they had me speaking something I never said, and I've never seen anything quite like it. You
know, CBS had that. We had the situation on 60 Minutes, and not the current owner, the past owners. The current owners I think, are good, Ellison.
But BBC took it a step further. They actually had -- they put words in my mouth, and they said I said some pretty bad things and I didn't say them.
It was AI-generated. And I said, "I never said that." In fact, some of my people said, "Wow, that was pretty bad stuff you said." I said, "What did I
say?"
TRUMP: You know, I'm pretty good at this stuff. I mean, if you can go through years of these press conferences, and you're a popular president of
the United States that won in a landslide, that won all seven swing states, that got record numbers of votes, I mean, so I guess I'm OK at this stuff.
I said, "I never said that." And then we found out it was AI-generated. And they admit they made a mistake, BBC. But I watched them this morning for
some crazy reason, and it was so inaccurate. Their reporting on the war was unbelievable.
We -- we have decimated that country, and if you watch BBC, it's almost like they're fighting us to a draw. They're not fighting us to a draw. It -
- it was very inaccurate news. It was fake news.
So I'm very proud of the term "fake news" because it was my term. I came up with it, but it's no longer accurate. It really is. It's corrupt,
fraudulent news. It really is. It's fraudulent. It's not just fake. It's beyond fake. It's really criminal, what they do.
But I watched BBC this morning -- and I don't know much about BBC other than what -- what took place, because people were calling me saying, "That
was a terrible thing you said." I said, "What did I say?" And they -- I said, "I never said that." And when we checked it, you agree. They agree.
It was somehow generated, I guess, by A.I. or something with me saying unbelievable...
So we brought a lawsuit against them. They admit they're guilty, but we'll see how it comes out. Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I like that question. I like that question.
Thank you very much. We'll see you later.
(CROSSTALK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You've been listening to a wide- ranging press conference there, press briefing with the president to seize meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland in the Oval Office running about
40 minutes time.
The primary focus, no surprise, is the war in Iran, which is now entered its third week. The president directing a lot of ire at NATO allies in
particular repeatedly saying that he is disappointed in NATO countries for not coming to the U.S.'s assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, at
one point saying that they don't need -- the United States doesn't need these countries right now, but in his view, this is an example of NATO
allies not coming to the aid of the United States.
Why this is so important, not only because of the decades-long alliance that now is publicly rupturing, given the president's language, but also
what this means for the war in Ukraine.
[12:30:07]
The president constantly saying, the United States has helped Europe and NATO and Ukraine, and now these countries are not coming to the assistance
of the United States.
He also was asked about Joe Kent. He's the top counterterrorism expert who had resigned, the top-level official thus far, in this three-week war to
publicly resign and speak out against the war.
The president telling reporters that it was, quote, a good thing that Kent resigned because, quote, he was very weak on security.
The president also noting, time and time again, that in his view from any of the intelligence that he's been briefed on, that Iran was just weeks
away from the possession of a nuclear weapon, which he said cannot be allowed.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: I also thought we saw a very, dare I say, a brave Irish Taoiseach who pushed back against the U.S. president a number of
times. I think a lot of us have been --
GOLODRYGA: Or delicate anarchist.
ASHER: -- traumatized by some of his White House press briefings, including with Zelenskyy and also the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Irish Taoiseach pushed back on president as it pertained to immigration in Europe, also about his relationship with Keir Starmer. The president
directing a lot of ire at the British prime minister, I have to say, whose political career it seems is -- is more or less hanging by a thread.
I mean, he obviously won a landslide, but he's had a lot of backlash on the British public, be it because of the cost of living crisis and obviously
energy costs in the U.K. have risen because of the Ukraine war, but also on top of that because of the Iran war. And there's a lot of internal division
within the Labour Party. And then you had the Peter Mandelson scandal as well.
Let's go straight now to our Kevin Liptak joining us live now from the White House. And as it pertained to Keir Starmer, specifically, I mean, of
course, it all started with Diego Garcia and the U.K. prime minister deciding not to allow the Americans to use the airbase there initially to
launch strikes against Iran and then sort of changing his mind, allowing the U.K. to use it for defense purposes only.
The president making it very clear that if you are somebody that he considers a friend and you do not support him, it is going to cost you,
that he -- it seems as though he was intimating that he could possibly retaliate against the U.K., against E.U. allies against NATO.
What options does the president have? And obviously this is a very difficult fine line to walk for the Europeans at this point, Kevin.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And the president was asked whether he had anything sort of up his sleeve in order to punish
these allies who he says are insufficiently loyal. And he said he doesn't have anything currently in mind, but it was evident just listening to him
that he's very, very frustrated at them for not going along with his demands really to send their warships to escort ships through the Strait of
Hormuz. You know, he had spent the last two days essentially doing that.
It does raise the question of what exactly his plan is now to try and reopen that straight. You know, he had been building this coalition in the
end for not very long. He didn't gain any of these countries by in before the war began. He spent only about 48 hours trying to convince them to go
along with his initiative to reopen the strait. Now, he says he doesn't need them at all.
You know, he did say he was getting some support from Middle Eastern countries, you know, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates. None of them have
come out and explicitly said what they're willing to do to reopen the strait.
But clearly almost irate, I think, at some of these European allies of Keir Starmer, he said, Keir is not Churchill. He referenced that bust, told a
false story about Obama sending it back to the U.K.
But he was also going after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who said that he wasn't going to send ships while active hostilities were underway.
He said Macron would be out of office very soon. Macron still has 14 months left in office, so he still will have to deal with him for some amount of
time.
And then of Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, saying that he always thinks it's pretty shocking when countries say that, yes, Iran was a bad
actor and needed something happening there, but then won't go along and support it.
And so I think striking comments from the president about what are traditionally very staunch U.S. allies.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, no doubt. Let's bring in security analyst David Sanger.
And, David, the president really reiterating what he has said for a number of years and repeatedly since his second term began as president. And that
is that the United States will always be there for NATO, but NATO, he doesn't know if NATO will be there for the United States.
And he's using this as an example of that prediction on his part that NATO allies are not coming to the aid of the United States, though he says that
aid is not needed at this point.
We should focus on the war in Iran. And some of the comments the president said that the strait will open shortly, that the war will, to quote him,
not be going on for too long now, and that oil prices will go down drastically as soon as the war ends.
[12:35:09]
But I do want to ask you something else. And that is if you are in Kyiv and you are listening to that Oval Office presser, what is your reaction?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, a few things, Bianna. The first is that it's -- the president seems to have
forgotten the history that the only time Article Five was invoked. That is the part of the NATO treaty that calls for helping out a country that is
attacked was the Europeans voting to come to the aid of the United States the day after 9/11.
So the one time this has been tested. The president's prediction here seems to have been contradicted.
If you're in Kyiv and you're listening to this, I think you come to a few conclusions. First, the president has barely mentioned Russia or the war in
Ukraine, except when directly asked in weeks.
Second, that the interceptors and other equipment that the Ukrainians were hoping would be there to bolster their supplies, purchased by the Europeans
and then -- from the U.S. and then given to Ukraine, are not likely to be available.
And I think the third thing that they've learned out of this is that they now live in a bifurcated world in which the president does not see the NATO
alliance as the core of the West's opposition to -- to Russia and to the other great competitor, China.
The president seemed to have confused what NATO's purpose is. It's a defensive alliance. And so the members of NATO were saying, Iran did not
attack the United States. So it shouldn't be surprising that they are not sending this equipment.
On the other hand, the Europeans are going to pay the price for this, both from President Trump and in the oil prices.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, no doubt.
David Sanger, thank you so much for sticking around for us and helping break all of that down for our viewers. We appreciate it.
And we'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:40:04]
ASHER: All right. As the Trump administration foregoes traditional diplomatic channels, some American, European, and Asian diplomats are
expressing the same feeling, frustration.
GOLODRYGA: A senior U.S. diplomat is going so far as to claim, quote, "The State Department has been completely delinked from playing any helpful
role. It is the weirdest, expletive I have ever seen in my career. It is just stunning."
And it's not just diplomats expressing their concern. America's war with Iran also appears to be unpopular among the citizens of their closest
allies.
Let's discuss with Harry Enten who is joining us live from New York. And that expletive is what we used, Harry, when you weren't with us live
yesterday.
ASHER: Yes. Why don't you join us, Harry?
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I don't -- I don't even --I -- all of a sudden, I looked up and I was on T.V. I had no idea I was even going to
be on. I was like, wow, I can be in two places at once. It was unbelievable.
ASHER: Yes, honey.
GOLODRYGA: Just make sure it doesn't happen again.
Talk to us about how these countries, in particular, citizens and -- and voters are feeling about this war now in its third week and some of the
pressure their leaders are now put under.
ENTEN: Yes. I would say that their leaders are put under a tremendous amount of pressure because when it comes to our allies, the folks in those
countries do not like the U.S. military action in Iran.
What are we talking about? Well, I pulled up three countries for you, three close allies of the United States of America. Net approval, the U.S.
military action in Iran. Way, way underwater in all three.
I mean, my goodness gracious. What are we talking about? We're talking about 27 points underwater in Canada, 73 points underwater in Japan.
Oh, my goodness gracious. And then in the U.K., we're talking about 34 points underwater, at least 27 points underwater in all three. And then in
Japan, 73 points underwater. I didn't know you could be that unpopular. My goodness gracious.
But I think what's important to note is not just how unpopular the current military action in Iran is.
Let's compare it to the U.S. military action in a different part of the Middle East. That is Iraq all the way back 23 years ago.
And take a look here. Just take a look at how much more unpopular the actions in Iran are. OK. This is the shift in net approval in U.S. military
action in Iran now versus Iraq in 2003.
In Canada, we're talking about 27 points less popular. In Japan, 45 less -- 45 points less popular. My goodness gracious. And then the U.K. takes the
cake. Hello, 48 points less popular this time around than the U.S. and U.K. military action in Iraq was all the way back in 2003.
So we're talking about tremendous shifts our allies. The people in those countries shifting away from the United States becoming a lot less likely
to like in fact U.S. military action going on in the Middle East when it comes to Iran right now.
But I have to say, Zain and Bianna, I am not all that surprise because this is part of a longer polling trend dating back to last year in which
President Trump and the United States is simply put not as well like amongst other countries folks in other countries.
Because just take a look here. Favorable view of the U.S. in 2025 versus 2024 when, of course, Joe Biden was the president. The favorable views went
down -- went down in 79 percent of the 24 countries that were in fact pulled.
So this is just part of a longer lineage in which folks abroad have been moving against the United States of America. It is the chickens coming home
to roost in which President Trump has basically been pushing other countries away. And now all of a sudden, he wants our allies to help out
and they're saying, nah, we're good. And the voters and the adults in those countries are also saying nah, we're good.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Thus far, they're good. But some of these countries are also more vulnerable to some of the spikes --
ENTEN: Yes. We'll see. We -- we --
GOLODRYGA: -- that we are going to see in oil and gas prices.
But your point is the correct one that these countries are blindsided really not being looped in into the start of the war and obviously given
the unnecessary as most people would describe tension and ire that the president had directed at them now for two straight terms didn't help
either.
ENTEN: No, it didn't help --
GOLODRYGA: Harry Enten --
ENTEN: Well, you know, I'm just going to say --
ASHER: We've got to go, my darling.
ENTEN: We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Goodbye. Goodbye. I'm walking off that thing.
GOLODRYGA: We'll quote the president, we'll see what happens. Harry, good to see you.
ASHER: All right. Let's bring in Mona Yacoubian. She's the director and senior advisor of Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
Mona, just in terms of what my colleague, Bianna, was just saying about European allies being blindsided, you think back to the day before this war
started and the Iranians, via mediators, essentially came out and said that they were making good progress in terms of the negotiations with the
Americans.
They -- they hadn't got a deal just yet, but they were making good progress and then they looked forward to coming back to the negotiation table next
week.
The next day, of course, the war with Iran started. The Ayatollah was dead along with several senior members of Iran's leadership.
The Europeans were clearly blindsided. And on top of that, it was clear, I think, to a lot of people that the Americans hadn't completely exhausted
all diplomatic channels before starting this war
[12:45:07]
And also talk about that, they hadn't even looped the Europeans in, and now they're expecting Europe to assist them.
This does put European allies in a really difficult position though. They know what Donald Trump is like when you don't support him. They know that
this could lead to back -- backlash and retaliation to say the least.
MONA YACOUBIAN, DIRECTOR AND SENIOR ADVISOR OF MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Absolutely. And then, of course,
they are also suffering the effects of the disruption in the oil markets.
And so finding a way to ease the pressures on the Strait of Hormuz, which I would say has really become the center of gravity in this conflict, is
going to be essential.
But that said all the points you laid down, Zain, as well as I think concern that the president's plan is not clear. It's not clear what the
options are, the duration, the end state. And I think, therefore, you see a real reluctance by NATO allies to be drawn into a conflict that could in
fact continue to widen.
GOLODRYGA: And what position though longer term does this now put European leaders in? Because it may be feel rewarding for them or their constituents
to say, you know, we -- we showed the president that we can't be dragged into a war that we weren't part of in planning.
But at the same time, they also, inevitably, will be feeling the -- the spike in oil prices and gas prices, perhaps, even more so than Americans.
So, what -- what do you think their options are now going forward?
YACOUBIAN: Well, I think the Europeans' options really are going to center on what gaps they can fill as this conflict continues. And by that, I mean,
can they, for example, undertake back channel diplomacy? Can they start to think through potentially with Gulf partners what off-ramps might look
like? They can do more. And I think they are to bolster the defenses of Gulf partners.
And again, I think as President Macron said, prepare for ship -- shipping escorts but only in the context of diplomacy and de-escalation.
ASHER: Mona Yacoubian, thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Our next guest wrote an op-ed for Al Jazeera saying, quote, "The U.S. Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why: Every aspect of
Iran's ability to project regional power is being successfully degraded."
Joining us now is Muhanad Seloom, an assistant professor of international politics and security at the Doha Institute for graduate studies. Thank you
so much for joining us today.
You know that your piece is generating a lot of buzz. I believe the president of the United States may have even posted about it on Truth
Social.
And you write that the dominant narrative -- the dominant narrative says that the Iran campaign is failing. I disagree. The strategy is working.
I've been living under the sirens in Doha. The data tells a different story.
Missile launches down 90 percent. Nuclear infrastructure inaccessible. Proxy command networks shattered.
So, what are you saying that those who carry that dominant narrative don't?
MUHANAD SELOOM, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND SECURITY, DOHA INSTITUTE FOR GRADUATE STUDIES: Well, basically what we're looking at
here is a conflict. It's -- it's a war with a massive country that is Iran, being reduced to the Strait of Hormuz.
What is going on here is that, you know, a -- a country like Iran with a massive regime that has been changed already before the war is over.
So if we look now at Iran after two weeks, 15 days of where -- I think now we are 18 days into the war just less than three weeks that we -- the --
the top leadership has all been assassinated and neutralized.
We they don't have any IRGC leaders that we knew before. The latest one was Larijani today, the IRGC commander, the besieged commander. All these armed
groups, their leadership have been decapitated somehow.
Now what we are looking at is a new Iran. So what President Trump and the United States and Israel are doing, they're changing Iran and their
military strategy is working, whether the political, you know, agenda is going to be successful, I think that's to be seen.
But we're only 18 days into this war. And what I compare here is what happened in Iraq in 1991 and what happened in Iraq in 2003. Both of these
wars they had at least five to six weeks of aerial bombardment that dismantled the leadership which led later to some kind of change.
[12:50:02]
In 1991, the United States and the coalition that was with it, they decided not to topple the regime of Saddam. But in 2000 -- 2003, they decided to go
in.
Iran is a different ballgame, but still the military strategy again is Iran is working. So -- and we cannot reduce it only to the Strait of Hormuz,
which is much more complicated.
I -- I don't think that, you know, maybe the geography works for Iran and Iran's strategy, but which Iran we're talking about? The leadership, you
know, Ayatollah Khomeini has been decapitated. His son is in hiding. We haven't heard from him, who is supposed to be the new leader, religious
leader of the IRGC and also of the country.
The political side of things, which is the current president, the foreign minister, they really don't seem to me to be in power. The IRGC is leading,
but also we don't know who is in the IRGC is in charge.
So, you know, Iran that we knew 18 days ago is a totally different country today, whether that is, you know, politically, again, whether that is
correct or not, moral or not, legal or not, that's a different argument.
My argument is that the U.S. strategy on the ground is working and it's going in the right direction that was set for, which is namely degrading
Iran's capability of harm and U.S. interests and U.S. allies.
ASHER: All right. Muhanad Seloom, thank you. Thank you so much for your perspective.
All right. Iran is asking FIFA to move its men's World Cup games from the U.S. to Mexico.
GOLODRYGA: Iran's men's team is scheduled to play two matches in Los Angeles in one in Seattle this summer. The country's head of football says
that it's for security reasons.
President Trump says the Iranian team is welcome in the U.S., but he also says it might not be appropriate, quote, for their own life and safety.
ASHER: CNN's Don Riddell joins us live now with more.
So, Don, obviously, we know that the head of FIFA, Infantino is very close with -- with President Trump. I mean, just talk to us about how likely FIFA
is it. I mean, it's unprecedented to move a game internationally, you know, just a few months before the game is set to start. How likely is it for
Iran's request to be granted here?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: I don't think it's particularly likely. I mean, this is unprecedented in so many different ways. I can't remember a
situation where the host of a major sports event started a war against one of the teams that was going to be playing in that event just a few months
later. I don't think that's ever happened before.
We have seen in the last couple of weeks a back and forth between President Donald Trump and various members of the Iranian government and sports
federations regarding what's going to happen here.
The latest, as you say, is this development with the Iranians saying they are, quote, negotiating with FIFA to see if they could get those games
played in Mexico. We're going to just take a look at this brief statement that FIFA gave us earlier today.
And based on this statement, I don't think it's going to happen. FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including Iran
to discuss planning for the FIFA 2026 World Cup.
"FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule that was announced on the 6th of December 2025."
I mean, FIFA and President Trump have repeatedly said that this World Cup is going to be 104 Super Bowls. Can you imagine coming up with a Super Bowl
just a few weeks notice and trying to put it on, given the logistical concerns, the security concerns, the commercial concerns?
I mean, tickets for all of these games have already been sold. This would impact three other teams, Belgium, New Zealand, and Egypt. So it's going to
be very, very difficult to see how these games can be moved.
So I guess the real question is, are Iran going to play in this competition or not? They have indicated that they can't. Then they said they're
negotiating to get them moved. So, let's see what happens next.
I think if FIFA are going to make a decision on this one way or another, don't expect that to happen before the end of April, April the 30th. That
is when their next FIFA Congress is going to be.
But it is interesting hearing about all the back and forth and the back channeling, but getting these games moved, I think that's going to be
extremely difficult.
GOLODRYGA: And, Don, quickly, what is the latest with the Iranian women's soccer team that had at least a few of its members had been seeking asylum
in Australia that had been granted and this obviously was the fallout from the team not singing during the national anthem, I believe, during the
Asian women's soccer tournament?
RIDDELL: Yes. I mean, this has been an extremely tense and emotional and difficult ordeal for these young women. Yes, we've talked about this a lot
on CNN that some of the women sought asylum and were granted asylum by the Australian government. But in the day since many of those players have also
decided to return home.
[12:55:04]
So, as we understand it, only two are now in Australia, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh. And they have actually been pictured today,
training with the Brisbane Roar team. Pasandideh wrote on Instagram that "everything will be fine."
So these young women are welcome in Australia. Of course, their future is complicated because we must imagine they've had to leave everything they
know behind, including their families and friends.
The players who have chosen to return, either initially or since, also have a difficult future ahead of them, one can only imagine.
I've actually been writing about this on cnn.com, if you'd like to read about it today. Having spoken to another Iranian female soccer player who
was forced to leave the country back in 2017. And she has some really interesting perspective on what all of these players are now going to be
going through. Very, very difficult. Impossible choices they all have had to make.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And impossible to say the least. And we encourage all of our viewers to go to our website and read more of your very important and
thoughtful reporting there.
Don Riddell, thank you.
And that does it for "One World" today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. Bianna's going to be back in just a couple of minutes with "Amanpour." Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
