"Take their money Chuck, take their money"

CHUCK TODD:

Mr. President, welcome back to Meet the Press.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Thank you.

CHUCK TODD:

Let me start right in, what happened last night?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Well, you had a situation that was very bad because the night before, they shot down an unmanned drone. And the unmanned is a very big factor. The fact that there was not a person on it, a U.S. person on it, or anybody. And that had an impact on me. I said, "Well, you know, we got a little problem." And I think they did that on purpose because they understand that they will be hit very hard if that were a plane with a person in it. And I think they knew that there was nobody there. So we had a very, you know, modest but pretty, pretty heavy attack schedule.

CHUCK TODD:

And this is a pre-plan that you had, something that if they did something, you had something --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Yeah, we had it --

CHUCK TODD:

-- these were sort of ready-made plans --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Sure, we have many of them --

CHUCK TODD:

-- to use if necessary, right?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Oh, I have so many targets you wouldn't believe.

CHUCK TODD:

Right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

We have targets all over.

CHUCK TODD:

So did you green light something? Or had you said --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Nothing’s --

CHUCK TODD:

"If we do it, I'll do this." What was, what was the order you gave?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Nothing is green lighted until the very end because --

CHUCK TODD:

Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

-- things change, right?

CHUCK TODD:

So you never gave a final order?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, no, no, no. But we had something ready to go, subject to my approval. And they came in. And they came in about a half an hour before, they said, "So we're about ready to go." I said, "I want a better definition --"

CHUCK TODD:

Planes in the air? Were planes in the air?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, no. "We're about ready to go." No, but they would have been pretty soon. And things would have happened to a point where you wouldn't turn back or couldn't turn back. So they came and they said, "Sir, we're ready to go. We'd like a decision." I said, "I want to know something before you go. How many people will be killed, in this case Iranians?" I said, "How many people are going to be killed?" "Sir, I'd like get back to you on that," great people these generals. They said, came back, said, "Sir, approximately 150." And I thought about it for a second and I said, "You know what? They shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it. And here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead." And I didn't like it. I didn't think it was, I didn’t think it was proportionate. Now that doesn't mean --

CHUCK TODD:

So what should the response be right now?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I think the response should be -- Well, first of all, as you know, we've done very massive sanctions. We're increasing the sanctions now. But the response is always going to be very strong. I built up a lot of capital. I've had a lot of people that aren't Trump fans saying, "I can't believe." You know, a lot of them said, "We're going to be in World War III the first week." Didn't work out that way. We're doing great in North Korea. We're doing great in a lot of different places. We knocked out the caliphate in Syria. We knocked out 100%. Remember I was going to leave it?

CHUCK TODD:

It’s not 100%. Not everybody says it’s 100%, even --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, no, no, the caliphate.

CHUCK TODD:

Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, the caliphate, which is the land.

CHUCK TODD:

The land.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

The area --

CHUCK TODD:

Fair enough.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

-- is 100%. You never knock these people out.

CHUCK TODD:

No, you won't.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

These people are stone cold crazy. And they walk into a store and they'll be wired up for bombs and they'll blow -- it's a horrible thing. So I never say that. I don't want to do what other presidents have done or other people have done saying, "We won," because you don't win so conclusively. I would love to have the day where we can win. You know, I remember when I was young I'd go on airplane and I'd walk up, I'd buy a ticket, I'd go on a plane. Nobody thought about bombs and nobody thought about security. You'd walk in, you'd give the ticket to the person at the gate and you'd walk into a plane. Today it's like, a big deal. So what happened is I said, "I'm not going to do it. I'll save it. If they do something else, it'll be double."

CHUCK TODD:

You think they were trying to provoke you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, I don't think so. And I think it was very important that they, to them, don't forget, their economy --

CHUCK TODD:

They don’t -- they, they --you don't think they intended to get you to respond militarily?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, their economy is shattered. Shattered.

CHUCK TODD:

So what's the message you think they’re sending?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Their inflation is through the roof. They’ve never had, the highest in the world right now. Worse than any place. They're, they’re living not well.

CHUCK TODD:

So put yourself in their shoes, what do you think the message they're trying to send you with this, with this drone?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I think they want to negotiate. And I think they want to make a deal. And my deal is nuclear. Look, they're not going to have a nuclear weapon. This isn't about the straits. Do you know that China gets 91% of its oil from the straits? We don't even need the straits. We have, we are now, because of -- since I came in, we're the number one energy producer in the world. Okay? Actually by far. And if I get the pipelines approved through the environmental process, which I will in Texas, we'll go up by another 25%. But we're way ahead of Russia, we're way ahead of Saudi Arabia. And I think that they want to negotiate. I don't think they like the position they're in. Their economy is, is absolutely broken.

CHUCK TODD:

So you sent a letter to the Ayatollah via Prime Minister Abe. And the Ayatollah seemed to say, "I'm not talking to you."

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I didn't send a letter, no.

CHUCK TODD:

What was the --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I didn't, I didn’t send a letter. No, no --

CHUCK TODD:

Was it a verbal message? What did Prime Minister Abe carry on your behalf?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Prime Minister Abe's a great guy. He's a friend of mine. And he obviously is close to them. I think he was their, their largest buyer of oil from before.

CHUCK TODD:

But did he, did he deliver a message from you to them?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No. He wanted to do something.

CHUCK TODD:

Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

According to Prime Minister Abe, they went to him, it's according to the prime minister, and they said, "What do we do with Trump? Can we make a deal? Is there something that can be done?" That's what Prime Minster Abe told me. I said, "Do you mind if I say that if I have to?" And he said, "Not particularly." So they came to Prime Minister Abe. He then called me. I said, "Send the following message: you can't have nuclear weapons. And other than that, we can sit down and make a deal. But you cannot have nuclear --"

CHUCK TODD:

No other --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

"-- weapons."

CHUCK TODD:

-- conditions other than that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

You cannot have nuclear weapons. And they would have had them with President Obama. He gave them $150 billion --

CHUCK TODD:

What is your deal?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Remember this.

CHUCK TODD:

I understand. But what is your deal --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

But, Chuck, you have to remember this.

CHUCK TODD:

-- going to look like with them?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Let me explain something. Number one, you have to look at the sites. Some of the most important sites we weren't even allowed to look at or inspect, okay? Number two, the term was not long enough.

CHUCK TODD:

Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

There’s like a short number of years left. After a very small number of years, he’s talking about a country, after a very small number of years, they have a free pass to nuclear weapons. You can't do that. So I want to be able to inspect all sites. They cannot have ballistic missiles, which under the agreement, isn't even covered. And as you know, that agreement wasn't even approved by Congress. A lot of people don't know that. That was an agreement that he couldn't get through Congress. He was not authorized, really, to do that deal.

CHUCK TODD:

Congress did give him some authorization to do that. It gave him the power to cut the deal.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

It wasn't ratified by Congress.

CHUCK TODD:

It wasn't a, it wasn’t a treaty.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

It was very, very short of what it should have been. You know that.

CHUCK TODD:

Don’t you think though -- does it at all tell -- what does it tell you that the Iranians haven't violated the agreement yet? That they are trying hard not to violate this agreement?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Well, you see, I think they have violated the agreement because I think in the areas that we're not allowed to inspect they're doing things. And I think they have been for years.

CHUCK TODD:

Europeans don't think they're violating the agreement.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Well, I don't care about the Europeans. The Europeans are going out and making a lot of money. The Europeans are fine. But they're going out and making a lot of money. They’re selling, in France, they're selling cars to Iran. They're doing other things. And let me tell you, we're very good to Europe. We take care of them. NATO, we spend a tremendous amount, a disproportionate amount. On trade, the European Union's taken, really, they have really taken advantage of us for a long time. Just to finish, we have great relationships with Europe. I don't mind Europe getting in the middle. Europe wants to make a deal too. Europe would love to see a deal be made.

CHUCK TODD:

Are these going to be separate deals?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

By the way, Europe --

CHUCK TODD:

Do you want to do a separate deal with Iran? Or do you want to get everybody involved in the same deal? Get the Russians, get the Chinese?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I don't care which, what kind of a deal. It can be separate or it could be total.

CHUCK TODD:

But it’s one-on-one talks, you and the Ayatollah?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

All it is -- all it is --

CHUCK TODD:

Is it one-on-one talks, you and the Ayatollah, or you and the President?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

It doesn't matter to me. Here's what I want, anything that gets you to the result. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. It's not about the straits. You know, a lot of people covered it incorrectly. They're never mentioned. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. They'd use it. And they're not going to have a nuclear weapon.

CHUCK TODD:

Did you send a message --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

And it's not about the oil.

CHUCK TODD:

-- last night? You know, Reuters is reporting that you sent a message to the Iranians saying, "I don't want war. I want to talk."

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Wrong. It’s wrong. I did not send that message. I did not send that message. I don't know who --

CHUCK TODD:

Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I don’t know who would have said that.

CHUCK TODD:

Send a message right now to the Ayatollah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I mean it's fake news.

CHUCK TODD:

Then send a message right now to the Ayatollah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Wouldn't be much different than that message.

CHUCK TODD:

Which is?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I'm not looking for war and if there is, it'll be obliteration like you've never seen before. But I'm not looking to do that. But you can't have a nuclear weapon. You want to talk? Good. Otherwise you can have a bad economy for the next --

CHUCK TODD:

No pre-conditions?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

-- three years. Not as far as I'm concerned. No pre-conditions.

CHUCK TODD:

And you'll talk anywhere?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Here it is. Look, you can't have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.

CHUCK TODD:

If you, are you, do you feel like you were being pushed into military action against Iran by any of your advisors?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I have two groups of people. I have doves and I have hawks.

CHUCK TODD:

Yeah, you have some serious hawks.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I have some hawks. Yeah, John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he'd take on the whole world at one time, okay? But that doesn't matter because I want both sides. You know, some people said, “Why did you put --” You know, I was against going into Iraq for years and years. And before it ever happened I was against going into Iraq. And some people said, "Oh I don't know." I was totally against and I was a private citizen. It never made sense to me. I was against going into the Middle East. Chuck, we've spent $7 trillion in the Middle East right now.

CHUCK TODD:

Why is this our problem? This is a proxy war. Iran and Saudi Arabia are in a fight to the death out there.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Yeah. You're right. You're right. And that's another thing I've done --

CHUCK TODD:

Candidate Trump, candidate Trump for years would have said, "Not our fight." Why are you involved?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Because of nuclear weapons. It has nothing to do with oil.

CHUCK TODD:

So the minute you get them to do nuclear weapons, you want out of the Middle East?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

That's all I care. I don’t care about -- Well, we're going to protect Israel. But I have nothing to do, absolutely nothing -- and we're going to protect Saudi Arabia. Look, Saudi Arabia is buying $400 billion worth of things for us. That's a very good thing.

CHUCK TODD:

You used to say we don't get anything in return --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

We are now.

CHUCK TODD:

-- for protecting Saudi Arabia.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

You know that this --

CHUCK TODD:

You feel like they're now paying for --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

-- this morning --

CHUCK TODD:

-- the American protection?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

-- I spoke to the Crown Prince, this morning. And we had a great conversation. I said, "This is a very expensive operation. You and the other nations that we're protecting have to pay."

CHUCK TODD:

Did you talk --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

And he said, "Yes."

CHUCK TODD:

Did you talk to him about the U.N. report about Jamal Khashoggi?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I did not because it really didn't come up in that discussion. I called about one reason.

CHUCK TODD:

I understand.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I called about one -- I didn't call about that. I called about one reason. There’s a very expensive operation. Unlike President Obama and unlike everybody else, I’ll say others too, not just President Obama. You've got to pay for it. We cannot, we, we just don't want to go in and, and protect the Middle East and protect Saudi Arabia and everyone else and not get reimbursed.

CHUCK TODD:

So this is why you're overruling Congress and, and letting all these weapon sales happen in Saudi Arabia?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Economic development and that. But economic development.

CHUCK TODD:

Never mind the humanitarian disaster --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

A million jobs.

CHUCK TODD:

-- that's taking place in Yemen?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

A million jobs -- No it's going to end. It's going to end. By the way, who's causing it though? If you look at it, Iran goes into Yemen. They start firing rockets at Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has to protect themselves, Chuck. But it's, it’s a million jobs and probably more. They buy massive amounts, $150 billion worth of military equipment that, by the way, we use. We use that military equipment. And unlike other countries that don't have money and we have to subsidize everything. So Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of America product. That means something to me. It's a big producer of jobs.

CHUCK TODD:

It makes you overlook some of their bad behavior?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No.

CHUCK TODD:

I mean --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I don't like anybody's bad behavior.

CHUCK TODD:

Are you going to -- The United Nations said they'd like the United States to order the FBI to investigate Jamal Khashoggi's death and possibly MBS’ --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Well, I think it's, I think it’s --

CHUCK TODD:

-- involvement in it. Will you allow the FBI to do that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I think it's been heavily investigated.

CHUCK TODD:

By who?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

By everybody. I mean --

CHUCK TODD:

By the FBI?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

I’ve seen so many different reports.

CHUCK TODD:

What about the FBI?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Here's where I am, you ready?

CHUCK TODD:

Uh-huh.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Iran's killed many, many people a day. Other countries in the Middle East, this is a hostile place. This is a vicious, hostile place. If you're going to look at Saudi Arabia, look at Iran, look at other countries, I won't mention names, and take a look at what's happening. And then you go outside of the Middle East, and you take a look at what's happening with countries. Okay? And I only say they spend $400 to $450 billion over a period of time --

CHUCK TODD:

So --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

-- all money, all jobs, buying equipment --

CHUCK TODD:

That's the price. As long as they keep buying --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

No, no.

CHUCK TODD:

-- you'll overlook some of this behavior.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

But I'm not like a fool that says, "We don't want to do business with them." And by the way, if they don't do business with us, you know what they do? They'll do business with the Russians or with the Chinese. They will buy -- We make the best equipment in the world, but they will buy great equipment from Russia and from China. Chuck --

CHUCK TODD:

Yeah. Alright.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

Take their money. Take their money, Chuck.