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One World with Zain Asher

Trump Now Says He Will Replace 20 Percent Strait of Hormuz Fee With Investment Deals; European Champions Spain Face France For Spot In Final; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired July 14, 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: ... over the last short period of time, and I guess you're going to be announcing them this week or

next week. But massive, the -- among the largest.

So they have -- they have done a -- a fantastic job over the last short period of -- a very short period of time. But they have a great leader, the

new prime minister. He's a great leader. I think he's going to be there for a long period of time.

And it's great to have you at the White House. Thank you very much.

AL-ZAIDI: Thank you. Thank you very much.

TRUMP: He's a young man. He's young and he's handsome...

(LAUGHTER)

... which I don't like. I'm not happy about that.

(LAUGHTER)

TRANSLATOR: (UNTRANSLATED)

AL-ZAIDI: Thank you.

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you for the warm welcome by His Excellency President Trump. This is my first visit to the United States of

America. This visit was not just like a visit. Rather, it's an announcement of economic partnership. When I talked to His Excellency the 30th of

September, the U.S. forces will be out of Iraq while these companies will be inside Iraq. While the social relations is about Iraq economy, it's not

like -- about -- like military relations.

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I convey my greetings from the oldest civilization in the world to the biggest economic and technology heart in

the world. (inaudible) my thanks to His Excellency the President for the warm welcome.

TRUMP: Good. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Please?

QUESTION: (Inaudible) I have a question for the Prime Minister...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (UNTRANSLATED)

And Mr. President, (inaudible).

TRUMP: Who are you with?

QUESTION: I'm with Al Arabiya. I cover (inaudible).

TRUMP: OK.

QUESTION: Sir, is the (inaudible) Iran (inaudible) the strategy to bring them back to the table (inaudible) so the regime (inaudible)?

TRUMP: Well, we don't think we need the military there any more. It's a very -- it -- big operation. And what we do have is the oil companies are

all going in now and they're doing partnerships with Iraq, and they're getting along very well. The relationship is a whole big relationship where

we don't need the military there.

We're there to help them, we're there to protect them if need be, but we don't think that's going to be necessary. And their -- their primary -- I

consider it an opponent. They might have considered a friend, but I consider that an opponent -- was Iran -- was a big burden on Iraq because

they were the bully of the Middle East, as you know. And we were just talking about that.

But they're not going to have that problem anymore because they're -- Iran has been very much destabilized and really a -- their military power is

just a tiny fraction of what it was just four months ago.

[12:05:00]

So they're not going to have that problem. I think it's -- it's -- really, in a sense, it's given them freedom to do what they have to do. And I think

that's one of the reasons that our oil companies are going in there at levels that have never been seen before. So it's been...

(CROSSTALK)

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you for your question. According to the program of the government -- is to restrict the position of weapons to

the state, and this is a basic point. And I have -- and this is like a decision, it's not an option. We received (inaudible) weapons by different

factions, and he -- whoever surrender his weapon (inaudible) political or civilians (ph), we will cooperate with them. After the 30th of September,

there is no -- any need for the presence of any faction because factions is a need, it's not a profession. (Inaudible) not any justification for their

existence after the 30th of September.

(Inaudible) by the end of this year, by the beginning of the next year (inaudible) conferences -- big -- the biggest conference in the region.

(Inaudible) the Iraqi decisions that might -- might (inaudible) the Iraqis only. And our security forces are capable of protecting it -- their

borders.

So after the 30th of September, (inaudible) except for any entity to carry weapons outside the control of the state.

TRUMP: OK?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Thank -- thank you -- thank you, President Trump. I had two questions. I was wondering if you could explain your changing thinking on

the Strait of Hormuz, applying a 20-percent fee? How did you get to the decision you just announced?

TRUMP: Yeah, so when I put that out yesterday -- because we've been doing that for many, many years. It was never fair to me, that we would be

guarding the strait when we basically don't take anything -- we don't need the oil, at all. And it wasn't important for us but it was important for

allies, it was important for people that we get along with very well, including the, you know, major Gulf state countries.

So I put it out yesterday. I thought it was good. I was called by different people, different countries, kings and emirs and all of the people that we

all know and we all love. And they're -- they've been -- frankly, they've been very strong partners.

And they said, "We'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars and continue our

record-setting" -- because we -- we're -- there's never been a time like this for the United States, with the factories, with the plants, with

everything else.

"And we would like to invest tremendously in the United States as opposed to charging a fee." And I like that, actually, because I don't think

anybody should be able to charge a fee for the -- for the strait or for any other strait relationship in terms of other sections of the world. I don't

think anybody should be really in that position.

But we were doing it as a reimbursement. The Gulf states are going to invest a tremendous amount of money into the United States, and that was

very satisfactory to me. I think it's actually much better.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: If I could also ask, are -- are you aware of why the FBI is looking into Senator Graham's staff? Have you gotten any updates on why

they were at his home?

TRUMP: Well, I don't know why because I think, you know, he had a problem. His father had a very similar problem, as you know. It's very unique. At

first, I heard it was clogged arteries, because he did have clogged arteries. He had a problem with -- with that. He was -- I wish he took

better care of himself. I say you can see -- you know, you can solve that problem.

But what happened is actually something that's very hard to detect. It was not related to the -- any blockage. It was a -- a totally different thing.

And supposedly -- and I've watched all of the medical reports. I've had the doctors from the White House come in and explain what happened.

And this is something that is very -- almost undetectable. And if it happens, there's not much you can do about it. Sounds unfortunate, but

there's not much you can do about it. If you look at -- his -- his father died of the same thing at about the same age. So there was not much -- it -

- it -- they say it's almost undetectable.

You can detect it by -- if you have a very bad back, that's a sign. It's a bad sign. So if anybody has a bad back -- it's a pretty rough thing to

think about -- but the fact that it's one of the primary signs -- and he would tell me he had a bad back, but little did anyone realize it was for

that.

[12:10:00]

So -- and when that bursts, which it did -- it burst -- there's not much -- so I don't see a lot of evil there. I don't -- I know there's all sorts of

conspiracy theories going along, and I -- I don't think the FBI -- I think the FBI is wasting their time if they're doing that.

Yeah?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... on the prior question, with the Hormuz Strait toll idea, for you, that's -- that's dead now, that's completely gone?

TRUMP: No, I -- I just told you you have a -- Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait in -- you know, primarily, and then others. They -- I

spoke to all of them, and they would love to invest more money in the United States at -- at record amounts. And that would be very acceptable.

And this way, there's no fee. I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting this strait for the entire

world, for China and everyone -- I -- I don't mind protecting it for China, I don't mind protecting it for anybody, but it's unfair that we're not in -

- somehow compensated.

TRUMP: And we've been doing this for many years. It -- it's bothered me. 25 years ago, it bothered me. During my first term, I was doing things, like

you have to invest in the United States, and -- but by doing it that way, there's no fee. They're investing and they're getting a return on their

money, and it's good.

But they're going to be making massive investments into the United States, and I like that much better.

QUESTION: Can I ask you a bit about the meeting you had yesterday about whether you discussed OPEC. There's been some reporting that Iraq is

pushing for changes to OPEC, a larger share, even though they might consider leaving OPEC.

TRUMP: The gentleman right here? Do you guys, would you like to know about it?

QUESTION: Are you considering, Mr. Prime Minister, leaving OPEC, or are you pushing for changes within it?

And Mr. President, would you support Iraq's pressing for changes?

TRUMP: Well, I support him. You know, I supported him very early indeed. I endorsed him, something I rarely do, but I've had great successes

endorsing. You know, we just had Colombia, which was a big one. Argentina was a big one. We had many -- I've endorsed -- I think everybody I've

endorsed from a foreign standpoint, they just win.

And, you know, I've been hearing great things. I'm a student of a lot of history, and I do know a lot about the history of Iraq. And I've watched

what was happening in Iraq with the elections. And I put a very strong endorsement out because I was very unhappy with the man that was supposed

to win the election. And this great gentleman, I think he's going to end up being a great leader. He won, so I'm very happy about that.

As far as OPEC, that's his decision, and you might ask him that question. Go ahead.

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We are one of the countries that established OPEC. However, we need, like a fair share for Iraq. Iraq fought ISIS and

terrorism, and all with the support of the United States of America. This fight with ISIS cost us, like huge amounts of money and destroyed the Iraqi

infrastructure. The damage that really was against Iraq is more than $400 billion.

And so, today, like, some Iraqi cities are totally destroyed. They're like living camps. I have a plan to get them back to their homes. We need a fair

share. We need a fair share.

TRUMP: (Inaudible) because if you remember, even though I was a civilian and had no thought of running for president, I get a disproportionate

amount of publicity, as you probably heard. And I used to say, "Don't go into Iraq. Don't attack Iraq." Frankly, they attacked the wrong country and

they did a lot of damage. Yeah?

QUESTION: Thank you. Given how the Iranians have been behaving, do you have any regrets about when you -- the blockade or giving the sanctions waivers?

TRUMP: No. I gave them a chance. I wanted to give them a chance at making a deal. You know, we had a deal two days ago. It was done. And then all of a

sudden, they couldn't do it. They didn't like something about the deal. They couldn't do it.

And they shot first. And that was a big mistake that they shot first, because we have been knocking the hell out of them. They're very difficult

people. Forty-seven years we put up with it. The SS call. You go back all the way, thousands of people, thousands of Americans were killed.

A lot of soldiers were killed. A lot of soldiers are walking around or not walking around. I mean, they've been so badly injured -- the arms, the

legs, the face. With the Soleimani with the bomb. They call it the roadside bomb. Most people call it the roadside bomb. It's a disaster.

[12:15:00]

And I killed him in my first administration. Had I not, it might be a different story today. He was a mad genius. He was a mad, probably, a mad

man, but he was a general and he had total control over the country. And I actually think the leaders of Iran were afraid of Soleimani, but I killed

him.

And, by the way, with him went a very bad person also, they happened to be meeting each other at the airport. And a very bad person from Iraq happened

to be a leader of Iraq, happened to be killed in that same incident. So, I don't know if I did you a favor or not. I've never asked you that question.

You probably would know better than me.

But no, I think, I think that -- I think that what we've done to Iran is we've taken away all of them, almost all of their military capability. Go

ahead. Explain. All of that -- yes, they hear that. Go ahead.

(UNKNOWN): (UNTRANSLATED)

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): At that time, I was not in politics. In my visit, I'd like to talk about the future, like we are fed up with the past.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Kurdish (ph) here. Mr. President, thank you for your time. Last year in May, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan

region, Masoud Barzani, signed about $110 billion in energy deals with U.S. companies here in Washington, D.C.

Mr. President, if Baghdad and Erbil work together better, that investment could grow, grow, grow. What is your message and advice to the leaders in

Baghdad and Erbil to work together? Why am I asking this question because you are our miracle makers, Mr. President.

TRUMP: I love this question. It's my favorite question so far, by far. Thank you very much for the question.

Look, Baghdad, I think -- and I and this country, we're going to make some tremendous music together. We haven't been dealing very much over the last

four or five years with the previous administration. Iraq has tremendous potential because of their oil and because of other things, but because of

their oil.

And we're going to be doing a lot of deals. We're going to create a lot of jobs for both countries. And we're going to be taking out a lot of oil. A

lot of oil is coming out and the American companies are doing it. Mostly American companies now, they don't want to do business with others. They

want to do business with America and that's good.

And that's one of the reasons that I felt so strongly that this was going to be a great prime minister. And I fought for that.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: How would you describe your relationship with Kurdistan Regional Government at this time? Because Prime Minister yesterday had a statement

on fully support you.

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I look at Iraq as a body. And each part of Iraq is part of my own body. So, I would never distinguish between two, any

organ and I cannot cut off any part of any organ from my own body. Understand, it's such an important part of Iraq so (inaudible) defend Al-

Basrah and other provinces.

TRUMP: But because such nice things were said about him, that means he likes the man that said those nice things.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Go ahead, please.

QUESTION: Thank you so much, Mr. President. A question for you and a question for prime minister...

TRUMP: Go ahead.

QUESTION: First question for Mr. Prime Minister: Why did you choose the United States as your first (inaudible)? And what -- what steps,

(inaudible) steps do you take when you go back to Iraq to make sure that the agreements you are reaching in Washington, D.C. implemented (sic)?

[12:20:00]

AL-ZAIDI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I inherited such a heavy burdened (sic) country. I has a -- have a masters degree in finance. I analyze the

economic situation of the country. At this burden, I need such a strategic (ph) partner to really lift this burden. The most important strategic

partnership in the world is the United States of America. It wasn't just like any visit or -- came out of this. It's not -- it's not emotional; it's

about money.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Inflation's slowed to 3.5 percent (inaudible).

TRUMP: Yeah, thank you.

QUESTION: Will this trend hold now that strikes on Iran (inaudible)?

TRUMP: I think so. I think it's going to -- inflation's down. We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. They say 48 years; it

was the worst in the history of our country from Biden, "Sleepy Joe". He might've been sleepy, but boy, he could create inflation like nobody. And I

inherited that and I got blamed for it, and it's not my fault. We are -- we are putting it to sleep, and we've done a great job, Scott and Howard and

Marco, and even Pete, because he's watching his dollars, right? But they've done a fantastic job. We've all done a fantastic job.

So we had the worst inflation in history and -- the history of our country. I mean, we had months where it was nine and 10 percent, and now we have --

a report just came out. It was just released. Thank you for bringing it up. But the report was incredible. Inflation is way down.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: That means prices are coming way down, and we're doing a great job.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And remember that -- remember that for the midterms. I say to that camera, remember that, because nobody else could do it. Prices are way

down. Prices are coming way down, and we're going to bring them much lower yet.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (inaudible) and around the nation. Are we anticipating your being (inaudible) on Thursday night regarding election mach- -- machines and

integrity. Can you give us sort of a sneak peak about what to expect? And (inaudible)...

TRUMP: Well, I'd rather save it. It will concern that subject, and we'll have a couple of other things to say also.

QUESTION: (inaudible)...

TRUMP: But I'd rather save it, but it's really big news. It's really, really big news, and our country has to shape up. But that's what we're

going to be talking about Thursday, is -- it doesn't get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country. We'll be

discussing other things too, but -- but it's going to be a very big announcement, yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. President, your administration pushed hard to shape Iraq's leadership and tied U.S. support to Islamic Iran-backed (inaudible). With

the (inaudible) deadline weeks away, what happening in Baghdad businesses (ph)? And does the U.S. troops' withdrawal from (inaudible) proceed on

schedule?

TRUMP: I think everything's on schedule. We have a great -- here we are. I mean, we're right now -- I even called for a lunch that wasn't scheduled,

OK? So in that way -- but no, we usually -- we -- I don't think I've ever done that, where we didn't have lunch. I said, "Let's have lunch." You know

why? Because I like him.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I like him. So I think -- I think that's all going to work out very well.

Yeah, please?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Sir, do you want this Russian sanctions bill signed within the next week or two? And will you sign it?

TRUMP: Well, I don't -- and Lindsey wanted it very badly. I think they may be adding Iran to it. They're going to add Iran, which is a very big thing

if they did that. They may add Hezbollah, too. Just put 'em -- if you do business with Hezbollah. So we're looking at that, but they're seriously

thinking -- and this is in honor of Lindsey. This was his thing. He wanted this more than any other thing. You know -- you know how he felt. And

there's a good chance that it gets done, but they'd like to add Iran and they'd like to add Hezbollah to it. That's what I'm hearing, so...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: And if that means secondary sanctions on China, India, (inaudible)...

TRUMP: Well, we'll have to look. That hasn't been discussed.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: The prime minister (inaudible) the militia under the control of the state. How does your decision support (inaudible)? And my second

question: How do you vision (sic) the future relations between Kurdistan region and U.S.?

TRUMP: I think everything is going to work out. I think people are -- the Middle East, believe it or not, is coming together. We're getting rid of

the bully of the Middle East. Iran was the bully of the Middle East. They bullied Iraq. They bullied every country. They were -- they -- there was

fear all over the Middle East with other countries. I understand that, but there was fear, but there's no fear anymore, because their military

capability has been knocked to hell, and there's no fear. I think the Middle East is coming together like it's never come together before. You

can't have a dominant factor like Iran and -- that would kill 52,000 protesters. You know, they killed -- nobody likes talking about that. I

don't like talking about it. They killed 52,000 protesters.

So the bottom line: all regions, I believe, are coming together, and I think it's going to be -- this is going to be one of the great leaders

right here. It's going to be one of the great leaders in the Middle East.

Go ahead, please.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Just explain that, please.

TRANSLATOR: OK. (UNTRANSLATED).

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And I think -- I think we could going into this for a long time, and the bottom line is that we have a fantastic relationship with many

countries now. We just had a -- I just came back from NATO. Many of you were there, and you saw how that worked out. It was a phenomenal -- it was

a lovefest, to be honest, and they love the United States. They even like me, but they love the United States. And we're going to cut costs there by

hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe. But the NATO event was incredible. Today's event is incredible. This is a -- a potentially really great count-

-- country, and many people would say it's a great country. We're helping it. We want to help it. We have a fantastic relationship with the new prime

minister. He's a strong person. He's a very brilliant guy. It's -- it -- very much acknowledged, or he couldn't have won that election. That was a

highly-competitive election, and he went out and won, and it's a big story. I mean, it's a big, big story.

TRUMP: And I just want to say that the United States has never done better. We're doing well. You know, more people are working today in the United

States than at any time in history. We have more things being built: factories, plants, A.I., automobile plants are being built at record

numbers, more than we've ever had ever before.

The tariffs have done -- have been used very judiciously and properly, and companies are pouring in and countries are pouring into this country to

build factories because when they build them, they have no tariffs. And we have numbers -- 19 -- so $19.2 trillion. As an example, under Biden, it was

less than $1 trillion for four years. We're at $19.2 trillion for 12 months. Nobody's ever seen anything like it.

Our relationship with Iraq is -- I would say it went from being not so good to being outstanding. And we're going to have a long-term relationship with

Iraq, we're going to have a long-term relationship with a man that will be a great leader.

You -- what -- mark my words, I knew what I was doing. This man is going to be a great leader in the Middle East, beyond Iraq. His influence is going

to spread all throughout the Middle East, and we're very happy about it. And we are very happy to have you with us. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I just want to -- I don't think there's anything much else you can ask us. This is a very important meeting. It's something I've never done

before. No lunch was scheduled, and I said, "Let's have lunch." I've never done that before. Sometimes, we'll have a lunch scheduled, but I've never

done this, right, Susie? This is a first. So I have no idea what we're going to be eating but it'll be fine, but we're doing it because we like

the people that we're with.

Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

[12:25:08]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. There you've heard the President of the United States there in the Oval Office taking questions alongside

the new Prime Minister of Iraq.

I want to bring in Kevin Liptak, who's at the White House. We'll get to Nada Bashir, who's following this story from London in just a moment, as

well as former Ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, all standing by.

Kevin, let's start with you, though. The president is really hyping up his role, as he would describe it in electing this prime minister and talking

about the relationship, the business ties that he sees, the investments of oil companies in Iraq in particular.

Also walking back his demand for tolls to be charged over the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. once again installs in and this goes back to enacting

its blockade later this afternoon, this after a lot of pushback from world leaders and even reminded of comments by his own cabinet members about why

this would not be legal and would not be sound.

[12:30:09]

He's now saying that there will be trade deals with Gulf countries instead. All the while, I'm looking at the headlines, and it does appear that these

Gulf nations, including Kuwait, are fending off attacks as -- as we speak.

Just talk about the significance and the timing of this meeting.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. A very important meeting clearly. Although I do think the president may have been somewhat

confused about exactly how Ali al-Zaidi came into the office of prime minister. He wasn't elected in a popular election which the president seems

to reference over and over again in this meeting. He was a consensus candidate who was installed after the U.S. pushback very forcefully against

the prospect of the former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki coming into office.

Nonetheless, the U.S. had a significant role here, so the president was correct in that. And I think when you hear the president speaking about

Iraq, it is almost exclusively through the prism of oil. The president going back again and again talking about Iraq's large oil reserves and

large oil wealth.

And I think that gives you a sense of where he sees the relationship headed from here talking about the entree of American oil and energy companies

into Iraq to help bolster that country's economy, but presumably also to make a lot of money themselves. And I think, you know, that sort of tells

you how the president views these relationships around the world.

When he's talking about this major reversal that he said, when it comes to the fee in the Strait of Hormuz, the president sort of casting this as a

better option saying that instead of the 20 percent fee on the value of cargoes that are passing through the Strait, that instead these countries,

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, will be investing in the United States, talking about that as a reimbursement for U.S. protection in the Strait.

You know, in reality, the president has already struck major investment deals with these countries to the tune of $2 trillion. It's not clear that

these will be new investments, but the president clearly reversing himself after some backlash both from people in the United States who feared that

this would increase costs, but also from those countries who were worried about how exactly all of that would go into effect.

ASHER: All right. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for that.

Let's bring in Nada Bashir for more on regional implications.

I mean, it's interesting the role of the Gulf nations in all of this. I mean, going back to that memorandum of understanding. You know, Donald

Trump, the sort of deal that was essentially signed with Iran. And there was all this talk about an investment fund to help rebuild Iran, that the

gulf nations were going to be investing in.

And now, Donald Trump abandoning that 20 percent fee for the Strait of Hormuz and sort of now saying that these gulf nations are going to invest

in the United States and said it almost feels as though the Gulf nations have very little say, especially when you consider that they are bearing

the brunt of the retaliatory attacks from Iran into their nations.

Just -- just give us your take on that, Nada.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It sadly does seem that when it doesn't seem as though the leaders of the Gulf nations are beginning to feel or

have felt as though the U.S. and the Trump administration has not held up its end of the bug in with regards to the expectations around the war in

Iran around the potential end point and off-ramp for this conflict.

And, of course, as you mentioned, Zain, it is the gulf nations that are bearing the brunt of the retaliatory strikes that we have seen carried out

by the IRGC targeting U.S. allies in the Gulf, U.S. military infrastructure in the Gulf Region.

We have seen just in the last 24 hours yet again Iran targeting Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, as well as two tankers, UAE tankers, in the Strait of

Hormuz.

And so there is that mounting pressure now on these gulf nations that are dealing with an increased and enhanced level of insecurity as this war

continues to drag on.

And, of course, the priority for these nations is really for this conflict to wrap up as soon as possible for that level of security that they have

long enjoyed in the Gulf Region to be restored and guaranteed. And, of course, also for that key shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz to

also be freed up to those pre-war levels as well. So, that is a key focus for the Gulf nations.

Whether or not the Trump administration is willing to deliver on that or able to deliver on that, at this point, seems to be up in the air.

And, of course, we've been hearing very stark rhetoric from the Iranian regime with regards to the status of negotiations and diplomatic efforts.

We know, of course, Iran's foreign minister met with his Omani counterpart over the weekend. The hope for many watching those talks was that there

would be some sort of resolution perhaps even the beginnings of a resolution to allow for some sort of safe passage through the Strait of

Hormuz as guaranteed by both Iran and Oman, but the Iranian regime has blamed foreign influences namely the United States for upending those

efforts.

[12:35:16]

And it does seem as though those diplomatic attempts to bring about a resolution are certainly upended now by this latest resumption of

hostilities.

ASHER: All right. Nada Bashir, thank you so much for that.

GOLODRYGA: Our next guest once served as the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey. James Jeffrey joins us now. Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for

joining us. I know you were listening to that press conference with all of us just -- just wrapped up a few moments ago.

And just to reiterate that the president took a lot of credit and was quite proud of the fact that the U.S. played a significant role in opposing Nouri

al-Maliki to take over if he became prime minister, even threatening U.S. aid, if that were the case.

Ali al-Zaidi is a businessman. He's never held public office. You've seen once again the president really endorse him wholeheartedly there on the

public stage.

At a time when the United States is in and out of a ceasefire here with Iran, I'm not sure how long this will last, where this war goes, what it

means for the region.

Does that endorsement from President Trump help bolster al-Zaidi at home? Or is this more of a liability for him at this point?

JAMES JEFFREY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ AND TURKEY: Thanks, Zain and Bianna. You're right. It's a double-edged sword, but on balance, Al-Zaidi

is a smart guy. There's a reason he decided to come to Washington first before going to Tehran.

Of all the things Trump said, the thing to focus on was his mention of Iran as a major factor, be it the Straits, be it the Iranian nuclear program, be

it what's happening with us and the -- the Iraqi prime minister today.

The underlying issue is the three-year conflict between Iran and its proxies in the United States, Israel, at times Turkey, Arab states, and

even the Europeans in the Red Sea.

At that point, what Trump is trying to do is to build up more pressure on Iran by plucking another one of Iran's quasi-proxies. Iraq was never a full

proxy, but there were many pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, and Al-Zaidi is working to disarm at least some of them.

The first steps have not been bad, but the proof is in the pudding, as we say.

ASHER: Yes. That is certainly going to be a major priority when the -- as the two men meet behind closed doors, this idea of disarming Iranian-backed

militias that are operating in Iran.

But, you know, to Bianna's point, just jumping off of Bianna's point, this idea that President Trump did not want Al-Maliki in office because of his

close ties with Iran. This was considered to be -- Al-Zaidi was considered to be a sort of compromise technocrat, but he has a really sort of

tightrope to walk when it comes to navigating closer ties with the Washington, but at the same time, not completely shutting the door to ties

with Tehran.

I mean, obviously, there is a strong and healthy sort of Shiite community in Iraq, so it is important for him to navigate close ties with both.

How does he do that? What does he need to say to the U.S. president?

JEFFREY: He handled himself well. He didn't commit to pulling out of OPEC. That's the maintaining relations with Saudi Arabia, although the Iraqis

have thought about that. He wasn't too specific on what he would do to push back against Iranian influence.

But, again, the -- the judgment on where we're going with a country in turmoil like Iraq or many others in the region is an interest, not yards

and miles.

And the point is the two most pro-Iranian candidates who were about to become prime minister, Al-Maliki, as you mentioned, and the former prime

minister, Al-Sudani, were vetoed by the United States. Al-Zaidi has ties with the Iranian-backed militias and political parties as well. They -- and

they elected him.

The point is they decided, we don't want somebody that Trump doesn't want. That is a signal. This is not yet Lebanon. It's not yet a country, more or

less, under the control of Iranian proxies. And Trump is trying his own way to keep it from going in that direction.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. As we noted, the U.S. naval blockade is set to resume tonight. A big question. How much pain, can not only the United States and

drivers and consumers here, once again, endure?

But I think for Iraq and those Gulf countries, how much pain economically will this pose for them, again, in the weeks to come, depending on how long

this blockade lasts? We'll be following it all.

Thank you so much, Mr. Ambassador. We appreciate the time.

JEFFREY: Thank you.

[12:40:01]

GOLODRYGA: We are just over two hours away from the first semi-final World Cup game.

ASHER: Yes. France may be the favorites to win in Dallas, but it is expected to be a tough match against Spain.

Let's bring in CNN's Pau Mosquera live from Madrid for us.

You know, I think the question is, is it going to be Killian Mbappe? Or is it going to be Lamine Yamal? Just walk us through.

I mean, Spain has only conceded one goal during this entire World Cup, as I understand it. France has won basically every single match. So, it really

is a coin toss. What are people saying there?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, Bianna, here people are very confident that La Roja will be the one to win at this very semi-final.

And actually, what you can see here behind me is the fan zone that the Spanish Royal Soccer Federation has organized to watch all the Spain's, all

La Roja World Cup matches.

And here you can see how dozens and dozens of fans are waiting to get inside. There's a space for around 4,000 people, but it wouldn't be the

first time that many of them don't get in time inside and they have to wait outside.

There is a lot of excitement as and as, I guess, that you can get from my microphone. There's a vibrant atmosphere, there's music. And above all,

there's a palpable sense of hope for victory.

We're just like two hours away from the game starting, but here people are already awaiting to see how things develop and how La Roja makes it to the

final, Zain and Bianna.

ASHER: And I just checked, the temperatures in Madrid is 95 degrees Fahrenheit. What is that? It's 35 degrees Celsius. That is -- oh, my gosh.

I hope this -- I hope the heat is worth it, and Spain ends up winning. But you also think, Pau, thank you so much for being with us. We'll see what

happens in the next couple of hours.

GOLODRYGA: I don't know. Mbappe may have a word to say or two with that prediction.

All right. It's going to be an amazing game today and somebody else is playing tomorrow, I forgot which country.

All right. That does -- I didn't forget.

ASHER: England.

GOLODRYGA: Argentina and England.

That does it for "One World" today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. African Voices is up next. She'll be back in 15 minutes with "Amanpour."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END