President Trump is ‘laser-focused’ on making a great deal with Iran, Hegseth says
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Saturday that President Donald Trump is “laser-focused” on reaching a “great deal” with Iran.
“Any deal that the president is willing to make, he’s only going to make it if he believes it’s a great deal for our country and the security of the world,” Hegseth said before departing Singapore, where he attended the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major Indo-Pacific security summit.
Hegseth said there is “only one president who is willing to lay it out on the line and ensure after 47 years that Iran is not capable” of having a nuclear weapon.
“You saw it in how he’s been talking about it publicly, those goal posts haven’t shifted at all, which is the expectation [of] the American people, and what we’ve stated to Iran. So, in the middle of negotiations, the closer they come to that reality, both now and into the future, the closer we’re going to get to that kind of a deal,” Hegseth continued.
“Also having been in the room with him, I know he means it when he looks in the camera in the Cabinet Room and said they can either do this now through a deal, and we think we’re a good place to make that deal, or they can deal with the War Department, and we are prepared,” Hegseth added. “We’re postured even stronger today than we were on day one to address it that way if we have to, but he’d prefer not to.”
“So, Iran knows very, very clearly what our expectations are, and that’s on the negotiating team to deliver. They’re coming in our direction. The talks have been productive. I think they know where it needs to go, and I’m quite confident with this with our president, who makes nothing but great deals, that ultimately it’ll be something he’s proud to defend, that ensures that Iran, which everyone knows, should not have a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth concluded.
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