President Donald Trump has a message for Iran’s leaders as tensions flare over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program: “Call me.”
The softer line marks a clear shift, at least rhetorically, from the administration’s tough approach to Iran, which has included moving some of America’s most formidable military weapons — an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers — to the Middle East.
“What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House, a day after he slapped Iran with new sanctions.
Shortly after Trump spoke, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a written statement that reinforced Trump’s friendly tone. After repeating the administration’s complaints about Iranian misbehavior, including what he called “40 years of killing American soldiers, attacking American facilities and taking American hostages,” Pompeo appealed to “those in Tehran who see a path to a prosperous future” through modifying the regime’s behavior.
Pompeo quoted Trump, the self-styled dealmaker, as saying he “looks forward to someday meeting with leaders of Iran in order to work out an agreement and, very importantly, taking steps to give Iran the future it deserves.”
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1126542648393838593
Tensions have been escalating between Washington and Tehran in recent days. The Trump administration moved a bomber squadron and sped up the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the region in response to unspecified threats by Iran against American interests. And on Wednesday, Iran threatened to renew some nuclear enrichment that had been halted under the 2015 nuclear deal.
Trump withdrew from the deal last year, citing Iran’s other malign activities in the region.
Trump acknowledged Thursday that the new deployments could increase the potential for military confrontation, but he wants Iran’s leadership to know that his phone line is open.
Since his campaign, Trump has maintained that his negotiating prowess could solve intransigent problems at home and abroad. In 2017, Trump’s “fire and fury” threats to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were followed by his zeal for talks with his new “friend” in Pyongyang. And just last week he reached a vague agreement in principle with his Democratic arch-rivals to boost infrastructure spending.
In each case, the details have bedeviled the early successes.
NEW: Source close to John Kerry: He has not talked to Iran since Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. And Kerry has NOT tried to discourage Iran from talking to the Trump administration.
— Michelle Kosinski (@MichLKosinski) May 9, 2019
Trump’s openness for talks with Iran was a shift from the hawkish tone of his top foreign policy aides, including national security adviser John Bolton. Bolton and Pompeo had been ramping up their criticism of Iran in recent months as they pushed Trump to apply “maximum pressure” to the country, and Bolton has previously been a fierce advocate for regime change there.
But White House officials argue there is little daylight between the president and his advisers, saying Trump is on board with their plans to tighten the screws on Iran, even as he dangles the possibility of talks. Trump, they said, would agree to sit down, but would make no concessions to bring Iran to the table.
NEW: John Kerry’s spokesman responds to Trump’s accusations: "Everything President Trump said today is simply wrong, end of story. He's wrong about the facts, wrong about the law, and sadly he's been wrong about how to use diplomacy to keep America safe.”
— Michelle Kosinski (@MichLKosinski) May 9, 2019
The possibility of negotiations also allowed Trump to try to score points on a longtime critic, former Secretary of State John Kerry, who he claimed had told Iran to wait out the Trump administration. Trump said Kerry had told Iran “not to call.”
A spokesman for Kerry, Matt Summers, denied that. “Everything President Trump said today is simply wrong, end of story,” Summer said.
Still, Trump said Iran should phone him up.
“If they do,” he said, “we are open to talk to them.”
President @realDonaldTrump said John Kerry should be prosecuted under the Logan Act.
The Logan Act bans private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments w/o permission from U.S.
Kerry said he met with Iranian gov't last year, 3 or 4 times, to discuss the nuclear deal.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) May 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1126526899453353984
(AP)
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10 Responses
Anything John Kerry does in this natter is comletely completely crazy
The man live in a fantasy world
Trumps recklessness is now coming back to bite. Tearing up a functioning deal with no viable replacement and at the same time alienating allies is a dangerous gamble.
Trumps ego based policies and constant lying and bluster eave us all at risk and on edge over NK, China, Iran and Venezuela.
Continuous incompetence and bumbling from the worst administration in history. A great danger to this country and the world as well.
The disgraced Rino, Jeff Sessions, will go down as the worst Attorney General in US history. The incompetent Sessions was AWOL from day one. He was like a deer caught in the headlights. He allowed Adam Schiff, from the minority at that time, to beat him down. He had to call Schiff before he made any decision.
If we use the Trumpkopf’s mindless standard for indictments under the Logan Act, he himself would be rotting in jail for his efforts to enourage Russia to interfere with the U.S. elections. Also, the FTC would be fining FLATULUS (aka the First Lady) for false advertising for holding these anti-bullying campaign rallies on the White House Lawn while her “husband” sits upstairs in his bedroom in his pajamas tweeting insults and racist slurs against all his “enemies’.
Gadolhadorah, you can not help yourself but spread lies and fake news about Trump. Are you that dumb that you cant not tell the difference between the joke Trump made regarding Hillary’s illegally deleting 30K emails and the criminal activity John Kerry is involved with the Iran, the #1 sate sponsoring terrorism country according to State Department?
WE hear a lot of nonsense from leftist Jews. he should be charge. This stems from obumma interference since he left office.. If the republican did this they would be charge. e only can pray to get right of the democrats in the house
Trump is putting pressure on Iran harder and harder to get them to change ways. And if they come to the table he encourages them to a deal for them both. He plays good cop bad cop all by himself. Same for North Korea. But once NK demanded more for a deal trump didn’t want he didn’t just rush to get a deal-he left, and is now pushing more pressure on NK.
Trump is using all the powers of the United States that he has-militarily, economically , to leverage deals across the world for us, and for them.
He’s not sitting on his laurels and enjoying being president and giving high affluent speeches once in a while. He’s working for the American people-and yes might be stepping on some people toes once in a while but that’s what happens when your in business.
This article has the most bizarre comments I have ever seen. And to mention the FTC, which resulted in the DOJ giving Obama such a pitifully small fine for his collusion situation, seems to be the most telling.
How come there was no such articles in the “press” when Hillary went on a national morning show, made the phone gesture, and said “call me Kim Jun!”.
No, only democrats are allowed to use that line.
Just wait until he “falls in love” with the mullahs in Iran….