US President Donald Trump stated that previous administrations’ negotiations with Iran included “one of the dumbest deals” he had ever seen during an interview with Fox News’s Larry Kudlow on Tuesday.
Trump accused former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden of “creating a monster” in reference to their handling of the Iranian nuclear issue.
“Obama and Biden, what they did in terms of creating a monster with Iran was terrible. That Iran nuclear deal was one of the dumbest deals I’ve ever seen.”
Kudlow, a former director of the National Economic Council of the United States, asked Trump about the prospects of a possible nuclear deal between the US and the Iranian regime.
Trump affirmed that Iran does want to make a deal with the US, adding that it “would be very foolish if they didn’t.”
“They weren’t talking to anyone else, but they’re talking to me… we took out their nuclear power last time, and we’ll have to see if we’ll take out more this time,” he said, referencing June 2025’s 12-day war in which joint US-Israeli strikes destroyed much of Iran’s nuclear arms production infrastructure.
Iranian regime 'very dishonest,' Trump says
Kudlow probed whether Trump believes the current regime, headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, “would ever really stick.”
“It’s a good question,” the US president responded. “A lot of people say no. I would say that I’d rather make a deal. It’s gotta be a good deal, no nuclear weapons, no missiles… all the different things you’d want,” adding that the Iranian regime has been “very dishonest with [the US] over the years.”
Trump’s interview with Kudlow comes ahead of a meeting between himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which the two are set to discuss “principles for negotiations with Iran” on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters before boarding his Washington-bound flight, Netanyahu emphasized that the “principles” are important “not only to Israel but to everyone who wants peace and security” and “for everyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East.”