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President Donald Trump said Iran negotiators made “a significant proposal, a significant step,” following the ultimatum he issued on Easter Sunday, but it is not “good enough.”
“They made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal, a significant step,” Trump told reporters at the Easter Egg Roll on Monday, a White House tradition that comes amid the backdrop of war.
“It’s not good enough, but it’s a very significant step,” Trump continued. “They are negotiating now. And they have made a very significant step. We’ll see what happens.”
Trump’s media gaggle offered previews of Monday’s 1 p.m. news conference detailing the rescue of the downed airmen behind Iran’s enemies lines, saying the airmen “are both recovering very well” and Iran “got lucky” in downing their F-15e jet.
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“You know what? When you do thousands and thousands of flights, and you have one plane shot down and not mortally, the two pilots got out – they got a little bit lucky,” Trump said. “And you know what? In a way you need a little bit of luck. Also, they got a little bit lucky. That’s all they got.”
Trump is warning some unspecificied consequences for refusing to “cry uncle” and come to heel and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to global oil trade.
“We are obliterating that country, and I hate to do it, but we’re obliterating, and they just don’t want to say uncle – they don’t want to cry, as the expression goes, uncle, but they will,” Trump said. “And if they don’t, they’ll have no bridges, they’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything.
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“I won’t go further, because there are other things that are worse than those two.”
Trump did not rule out taking over Iran’s oil.
“If I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil, because it’s there for the taking; there’s not a thing they can do about it,” Trump continued. “Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil. I’d keep the oil.
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“I would make plenty of money, and I’d also take care of the people of Iran much better than they’ve been taken care of. It’s been horrible.”
Trump pointed to the arrangement with Venezuela as a potential model for the next phase once Iran comes to heel, including the “lunatics” needing to give up their nuclear weapons aspirations.
“Hopefully it could be over with quickly,” Trump concluded before returning to the traditional White House Easter Egg Roll. “Again, there are lots of different alternatives. We have many alternatives.
“We could leave right now, and it would take them 15 years to rebuild what they have. We could leave right now, but I want to finish it up.”
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