6 hours ago
Trump says US and Iran to hold direct talks on nuclear program on Saturday
Donald Trump says the US and Iran are participating in direct talks over the Iranian nuclear program, a surprise announcement after Iranian officials had appeared to rebuff US calls for such negotiations.
Iran had pushed back against Trump’s demands that it directly negotiate over its nuclear program or be bombed, though it had initially left the door open to indirect discussions.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable,” Trump said. He did not elaborate.
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Donald Trump addressed US tariffs, Iran and the war in Gaza during his Oval Office briefing with Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon.
Here are the key takeaways:
On Israel, Trump said he had Netanyahu had a “great discussion” on trade – and that even the Israeli prime minister and Trump ally hoped to “get down to a free base” on tariffs.
The president added that the it “would be a good thing” to have the United States “controlling and owning the Gaza Strip”. He also appeared to believe that Israel “gave away” the Palestinian territory.
Good afternoon, I’m Cecilia Nowell taking over for my colleague Lucy Campbell.
As Donald Trump concludes his Oval Office meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trading has ended on another bumpy day on Wall Street.
After US stock markets opened this morning on bear market territory, the Cboe Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, reached “crisis levels” as it skyrocketed to its highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic. The measure surpassed a level of 50 points midday. Over the past five years, it has rarely peaked above 30.
The Oval Office meeting is now over. That’s all from me, Lucy Campbell, for today. My colleague Cecilia Nowell is here to steer you through the rest of the day’s developments.
Trump refuses to disclose where the talks with Iran will take place on Saturday, saying only that they will be “top level”.
“Virtually every country wants to negotiate [on tariffs],” Trump claims.
He says even Netanyahu “wanted to get down to a free base” in his talks with Trump on tariffs.
Trump says he doesn’t know why Israel “gave away” Gaza.
Iran will be 'in great danger' if US talks fail, Trump says
Asked if his administration is prepared to take military action against Iran, Trump says Iran would be in “great danger” if ongoing direct talks fail.
“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran’s going to be in great danger,” Trump says. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and if the talks aren’t successful I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran.”
Trump repeats idea that 'US controlling and owning Gaza Strip would be a good thing'
Trump refers once again to the Gaza Strip as “an incredible piece of important real estate”.
He says that the United States’ “controlling and owning” the Gaza Strip would be a good thing, again floating a shocking proposal that he put forward multiple times during the opening weeks of his administration (incidentally, it was during Netanyahu’s last visit).
“Having a force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing,” he doubles down.
He then claims Palestinians don’t want to live in Gaza, so moving them to different countries would be a good thing.
He once again calls the strip “oceanfront property”.
Trump also claims that the EU “manipulates its currency”, bringing it down to make it hard for the US to sell products there. He is also very concerned about tractors.
Trumps says his qualms with trading with the EU is not just about tariffs.
“It’s not only tariffs, it’s non-monetary tariffs. It’s tariffs where they put things on that make it impossible for you to sell a car. It’s not a money thing. They make it so difficult – the standards and the tests,” he says, before going off into a bizarre bowling ball analogy.
“So they come up with rules and regulations that are just designed for one reason: that you can’t sell your product in those countries and we’re not going to let that happen. Those are called non-monetary barriers,” he says.
Trump says selling energy to the EU would be a key focus as his administration seeks to eliminate a trade deficit with the bloc.
“The European Union’s been very bad to us,” Trump says, accusing European nations of not buying enough US goods.
“They’re going to have to buy their energy from us, because they need it and they’re going to have to buy it from us. They can buy it, we can knock off $350bn in one week,” he claims.
EU's zero-zero tariffs offer 'not happening', Trump says
Trump says the EU’s offer zero-zero tariffs on cars and industrial goods isn’t happening.
Trump says the US is having “high-level” and “direct” talks with Iran.
“Maybe a deal’s going to be made, that would be great. It would be really great for Iran,” he says.
They’re meeting on Saturday at “almost the highest level”, he says.
Tariffs could be permanent and could also be negotiated, Trump says
Asked if the tariffs are permanent or open to negotiations, Trump says: “They can both be true, there can be permanent tariffs and there can be negotiations.”
There are things we need beyond tariffs, like open borders, says Trump.
“China is a closed country,” he claims, charging tariffs so high on things like cars that nobody buys them.
