Donald Trump called the newly-announced Iran nuclear deal “terrible” on Tuesday, saying in an interview with NBC News that the president negotiated the agreement “from desperation.”
“I don’t understand the president. He dealt from desperation, and he shouldn’t have been desperate,” Trump said after an event in Charlottesville, VA.
“First of all, we’re giving them billions of dollars in this deal, which we shouldn’t have given them. We should have kept the money,” he said, appearing to refer to gradual sanctions relief for Iran under the parameters of the deal, which was negotiated by Iran and six world powers led by the United States. “Second of all, we have four prisoners over there. We should have said ‘Let the prisoners out. They shouldn’t be over there.’”
Trump, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said that any deal should also stipulate that inspectors have 24-hour-a-day access immediately to all nuclear sites in Iran.
“You know the Iranians are going to cheat,” he said. “They’re great negotiators and you know they’re going to cheat.”
Trump’s remarks came hours after he issued a scathing statement slamming Hillary Clinton for her criticism of Trump’s controversial remarks about Mexicans.
“She said that she didn’t like my tone,” he told NBC News. “And I said that’s the problem with our country. They’re worried about tone, they’re not worried about results.”
Speaking yesterday to an audience of Latino activists, Clinton said Trump’s remarks were “appalling,” adding “I have just one word for Mr. Trump: Basta. Enough.”
Trump countered that Clinton’s statement was “nasty” and that he’s merely interested in telling the truth about immigration.
“I speak as well as anybody,” he said. “I went to one of the greatest schools in the world. I can speak better than anybody. But we need energy, we need something behind what we say.”
