Former President Donald Trump warned Iran is in “danger” when speaking with the Saudi Arabian government-owned Al Arabiya English news channel.
In the interview which touched on a range of topics focused on the Middle East, Trump was questioned by Al Arabiya’s Washington correspondent Nadia Bilbassy on how he would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“They won’t acquire it. Now, they may get it, they may get it very quickly. I’m not president so I won’t have much to do with that,” Trump said.
Trump then said he has “respect for Iran” and for its people, adding that he knows a lot of “Iranian people. They’re very smart, actually great negotiators, great business people. They’re great people, they’re very warm people.”
Trump then said the country was in “danger.”
“I want it to do, as a country, I want it to do great. But now it’s in its own ways probably in danger,” he said. “Maybe more so than they would’ve thought a month ago, right, with what’s happening. I think it’s in a lot of danger right now which is, you know, very bad.”
Trump’s comment is alluding to the increased tensions in the Middle East, as Israel’s war against Hamas has expanded into a wider conflict with Iranian terror proxies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
When speaking on the war in Gaza, Trump repeated his claim that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza would never have started had he been president.
“It’s so sad to think that if I were president, that war would have never started. You wouldn’t have all those dead people, all those, you know, just demolished cities and areas. You wouldn’t have had Oct. 7. … And all of the destruction and hatred and everything else that followed Oct. 7. You wouldn’t have had Russia attacking Ukraine,” he said.
The interview comes as Trump tries to court Arab American voters who are frustrated with the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.
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In recent weeks, Trump has backed out of interviews with U.S. news channels, including CBS News’s 60 Minutes and NBC News. He also will not participate in another presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to a Politico report, a Trump adviser said those cancellations were because Trump, 78, is “exhausted,” a statement the Trump campaign denies.
