Trump on Richard Grenell:

He was the Ambassador to Germany. As you know, there was no happier woman in the world when he left that position—Angela Merkel.

She called me and said, “Thank you, sir, thank you.” Although she liked Ric a lot, there was nobody happier that he was no longer going to be the Ambassador to Germany.

He was difficult for them. He was not your typical Ambassador. He was the opposite. He did what was best for the United States, not for Germany, and I want to tell you he did a great job.

He did such a good job that I put him in charge of something called intelligence—something he didn’t really want to do. But he did it, and he did it incredibly well.

There were a lot of leakers. He found the leakers. And when he couldn’t find out who the leaker was in a certain area, he fired everybody.

Trump to Fed’s Jerome Powell:

He should cut interest rates. He should cut them right now.

They should have a special meeting. What better time is there to cut interest rates?

Even a third-grade student would know that.

Trump on The Strait of Hormuz:

Numerous countries have told me they're on the way.

“We'd rather not get involved, sir.” I said, “For 40 years we're protecting you, and you don't want to get involved in something very minor?”

Very few shots are going to be taken because they don't have many shots left.

Trump:

We got rid of the gold columns, which always looked terrible.

They looked cheap and fake — very much like the media.

WATCH: Clear footage of a U.S. F-15E jet that was shot down over Kuwait on March 1-2 in a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti F-18 jet.

Trump: Representative Dunn would be dead by June.

Mike Johnson: Well, that wasn’t public.

Trump on Delcy Rodríguez:

The President has done a really good job.

I get along with him really well.

(Delcy Rodríguez is a woman)

Trump:

Some of the artists took a pounding from Ric.

German Chancellor Merz to Israel on Lebanon:

We call on Israel not to attack civilian targets and the UNIFIL mission of the United Nations. We follow the Israeli ground offensive with considerable concern.

Such an offensive would further exacerbate the already highly tense humanitarian situation and the dramatic flight movements anyway.

We urgently call on our Israeli friends: do not take this path. It would be a mistake.

Trump on allies:

If we need their mine boats or anything they may have because of a situation, they should be jumping to help us because we helped them for many years.

German Chancellor Merz on Iran War:

NATO is a defense alliance and not an intervention alliance. And therefore, NATO is not called upon here at all.

I pointed out the risks from the first day, and the risks of this war are large, very large.

There will be no military solution here, but there will only be a political solution.

Trump on Macron:

On a scale of 0 to 10, he has been an 8.

Not perfect, but it's France — we don't expect perfect.

German Chancellor Merz on Iran War:

This Iranian regime must stop; it must be replaced by a democratically legitimized government.

But according to all the experiences we have also made in previous years and decades, bombing that into existence will, in all probability, not succeed.

Trump:

I think Macron will help with the Strait of Hormuz... we don't need anybody.

I almost do it because I want to find out how they react.

Trump on NATO:

NATO is us.

Putin fears us, he has no fear of Europe.

He fears the United States of America.

Trump on The Strait of Hormuz:

We don't need oil.

Trump on Iran:

They want to make a deal.

They are talking to our people.

Trump on Iran:

I saw Abraham Lincoln on fire. I called the general. I said, "General, is Abraham Lincoln burning down?"

"No, it is not burning down. Not a bullet was ever fired at it."

Trump on Iran:

We don't know who their leader is.

We have people who want to negotiate — we have no idea who they are.

Trump on Mojtaba Khamenei:

A lot of people are saying he’s badly disfigured. Some are saying he lost a leg — one leg — and that he’s been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he’s dead. Nobody is saying he’s 100% healthy.

We don’t know if he’s dead or not.

Nobody has seen him. Unusual.

Reporter: Now that you’ve announced that the U.S. has destroyed all of Iran’s mine-laying ships — why can’t the U.S. just immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz?

Trump: Well, we could, but it takes two to tango.

When the big supertankers come in, the ship owners may say, “Let me wait a little while.” These ships are very expensive — they can cost up to $2 billion — so they don’t want to take a chance.

They have to know it’s safe so they don’t have to say, “We don’t even know if they’ve set mines.” But even the thought that they may have is enough to keep people from moving.