President Trump said Monday the U.S. and Iran have had direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear program.
“We’re dealing with the Iranians. We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly,” Mr. Trump told reporters during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates, or you’re not dealing directly. You’re dealing through other countries.’ No, we’re dealing with them directly,” he said.
The president said the talks cannot fail because Iran will be in “great danger” and “can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Mr. Trump’s announcement came as a surprise after Iranian officials seemed to reject U.S. calls for such talks over the weekend.
Iran had pushed back against Mr. Trump’s requirements that it directly negotiate over its nuclear program or be bombed. However, it had initially allowed for indirect discussions.
Mr. Trump said, “Maybe a deal is going to be made. That’d be great. It would be really great for Iran. I can tell you that.”
The president said he would prefer reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program to a military conflict, noting that on March 7 he had written to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to suggest talks.
Iranian officials said at the time that Tehran would not be forced into negotiations.
He said if the talks with Iran aren’t successful, “I think Iran is going to be in great danger.”
“Because they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “It’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Can’t have it.”
During his first term, Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 agreement between Iran and other world powers that placed limits on Iran’s nuclear actions in exchange for lifting sanctions. Mr. Trump reimposed these sanctions.
He said there are other countries that have nuclear weapons but shouldn’t, but “I’m sure we’ll be able to negotiate out of that too as part of this later on down the line.”
He said it would be a “very bad day for Iran” if the discussions don’t go well.
Mr. Trump also discussed his tariffs, saying he’s “not looking” at a pause on tariffs, but when asked about whether there are negotiations allowed for the tariffs or if they’re permanent, he said, “They both can be true.”
“I will say this, virtually every country wants to negotiate. If I didn’t do what I did over the last couple of weeks, you wouldn’t have anybody who wants to negotiate… Now, they’re coming to us. They’re offering things.”
He also discussed the 17% tariff placed on Israeli goods exported into the U.S.
Mr. Netanyahu promised to eliminate the trade deficit with the United States.
“We intend to do it very quickly. We think it’s the right thing to do and we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers that have been put up unnecessarily,” Mr. Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office seated next to President Trump.
He said Israel “can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same.”
“I recognize the position of the United States. It says, you know, ‘We’re allowing other countries to put tariffs on us, and we don’t put tariffs on them,’” he said. “I’m a free trade champion. And free trade has to be fair trade.”
“We’re going to eliminate the tariffs and rapidly,” he said.
Mr. Trump, still, seemed unwavering on ending the tariffs on Israeli goods, saying “maybe not” when asked if he would take them off.
“Don’t forget we help Israel a lot. You know, we give Israel $4 billion a year. That’s a lot,” Mr. Trump said.
He also said he had not raised tariffs on Russia because “we’re not doing business essentially with Russia.”
“They’re in a war and I’m not happy about what’s going on with the bombing,” he said. “They’re bombing like crazy right now, they’re bombing, I don’t know what’s going on right now. That’s not a good situation.”
Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump discussed a new hostage deal to get the remaining hostages home from Gaza, both dead and alive.
“We hope we will succeed,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “We’re committed to getting all of the hostages out.”
