Trump Responds To Uproar Over Offhand Remark: ‘That’s a Perfect Statement, I’d Make It Again’

During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier that aired on Friday evening, President Donald Trump defended his statement from earlier this week in which he insisted he doesn’t think about the financial situations of Americans when negotiating with Iran, saying, “That’s a perfect statement, I’d make it again.”

The moment in question occurred on Tuesday as the president spoke with reporters at the White House ahead of his trip to China. One journalist asked if the financial woes of Americans were motivating him to make a deal with Iran.

“Not even a little bit,” Trump said. “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations; I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

In Friday’s Special Report interview, Baier played Trump the clip along with a graphic showing rising inflation rates.

“You can imagine Democrats and political pundits jumped all over this,” said Baier, with Trump interjecting, “The people get it.”

“That’s a perfect statement, I’d make it again,” the president continued.

“You can imagine how many people stopped the soundbite at ‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations,” Baier interrupted, with Trump repeating, “No.”

Baier asked for a response, to which Trump said, “It’s very simple. When people hear me say it, everybody agrees, short-term pain. It’s gonna be short-term pain. But the pain is much less than people thought… And that question was a fake question, and they didn’t put my full answer. I totally care.”

He went on to mention inheriting high prices from former President Joe Biden’s administration.

More accurately, however, as CNN’s Allison Morrow noted in her Thursday analysis, “The difference is that the price surges happening on Trump’s watch are indisputably, directly linked to his policy decisions: namely, tariffs and the Iran war. Not even Biden’s harshest critics can argue in good faith that he somehow caused a global pandemic before taking office or that his policies prompted Russia to invade Ukraine.”

Watch the full clip above via Fox News.

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