>>/185898/, >>/185899/, >>/185900/, >>/185901/, >>/185902/, >>/185903/, >>/185904/, >>/185905/, >>/185906/, >>/185907/, >>/185908/, >>/185909/, >>/185910/, >>/185911/, >>/185912/, >>/185913/, >>/185914/, >>/185915/, >>/185916/, >>/185917/, >>/185918/, >>/185919/, >>/185920/, >>/185921/, >>/185922/, >>/185923/, >>/185924/, >>/185925/, >>/185926/, >>/185927/, >>/185928/, >>/185929/, >>/185930/, >>/185931/, >>/185932/, >>/185933/, >>/185934/, >>/185935/, >>/185936/, >>/185937/, >>/185938/, >>/185939/, >>/185940/
He added, “…A lot of spirit. Pakistan was fantastic.” He said, “We've been taking out many ships that nobody knew. Over the last month we've been taking out ships, big ships quietly at night…. Pretty cool, right?…Turned off the lights. We bombed their radar and everything so they couldn't see what was going on. We took out some nights, 25 ships, some nights 15, last four or five. Nights we did 25, 22, 21, 26, 18 and 14. Who else would remember those numbers?”
Continuing, he said, “We took them out at night and the Strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be sent very soon, maybe over the weekend in Europe. I won't be able to be there, but JD will be there vice president and some of the people. Steve Witkoff did a great job, Jared.”
When talking about fishing, he mentioned fishing off the coast of Maine, which led him to comment on the Democratic nominee for Senate there. “Maine is very much in the subject because I have a pig running for the Senate. He's a pig. He's not a Senator. It's a joke. He's a conman. I won half of Maine. I won the one by a lot.”
George Condon
Thu. Jun. 11, 5:16 PM
https://x.com/WHPressPool/status/2065182033547018307
White House Press Pool Reports @WHPressPool - In-town pool report #4 - Oval Q&A
Pool entered the Oval Office at 3:30. He took questions from the pool from 3:58 until the pool departed at 4:20.
Asked how confident he is that there actually would be a signing of the Iran deal mentioned in the last pool report, he said he was “pretty confident it will be soon… may be this weekend.” Asked if the Supreme Leader had signed off on it, he said he had. He said Iran had made a commitment on nuclear. “They will not have nuclear weapons” and “would not purchase, develop in any way, shape or form a nuclear weapon.” Asked why that is, he said, “because they have taken a pounding.” He added, “It’s a great deal for the United States and for the Middle East” and “for Iran.” He said the agreement is “more notional.” But he said the “most important paragraph” deals with nuclear. He described it as “a very strong Memorandum of Understanding,” adding, “They want to sign it more, maybe a lot more.” He disputed the notion that the Iranians may be “tapping” the United States along, saying their “level of enthusiasm for getting it done” is clear and attributed that to the threat that the United States would “hit them harder.”
He said, “We won this war militarily very early. The only place we didn’t win was with the fake news.” Back to the deal, he said, “It’s a great deal… The Straits are going to open immediately with the signing.” Asked if taking Kharg Island is off the table, he said, “Now, it would be.” Asked if he will take any action to keep FISA going, he said, “Let’s see what is happening.” He said Bill Pulte will remain acting DNI and called him “smart.” He dismissed Mitch McConnell as “an angry man” who is “very disloyal to John Thune.” He talked at some length of McConnell taking credit for Republican judges, saying that, instead, he, as the president who appointed the Republicans, should get the credit. He also criticized Sen. Murkowski saying that no president has ever been as good for Alaska. He suggested fertilizer prices will come down when the war ends. And he explained why his endorsement in the Iowa gubernatorial primary did not carry the day with the voters after his endorsed candidate Randy Feenstra lost to Zack Lahn. He said that the winner also was MAGA. He also suggested that he was not well advised on the Iowa race.
44