I don’t want wars. I want wars less than almost anybody. Peace through strength.

The leadership are violent vicious people. They killed 32,000 protesters over the last three weeks.

If you believe that Iran should have a nuclear weapon, then something is wrong with you, because they would use it.

The only question is whether they would use it within an hour of getting it or within a day. They would blow up the entire Middle East, not just Israel.

Give me that bomber over there, let me just hug that little sucker.

It looks small, but in person it’s very big. It’s the only plane capable of carrying a 200,000-pound bomb.

I don’t know how they do it because it’s very sleek and beautiful, but it carries a lot of weapons.

All of those missiles that were launched against their neighbors were set long ago, long before they expected to use them so quickly.

Had we not done this, you would have had a nuclear war that would have evolved into WW3.

Now they think maybe the son is gone. They’re all gone.

My biggest problem is that I have no idea who we’re talking to, because nobody has ever heard of any of these people. They’re all dead.

We did a job for the world — not a job for us, for the whole world.

We took the worst country in 50 years and maybe longer from the ideological standpoint, a country that wanted to blow up the world, a country that is sick, and it has a religious fervor.

More people died in religious wars than every other war put together — and that's what you would have had here.

China should be thanking us. I don't expect a thank you, but they should be thanking us.

They should not only be thanking us but also helping us. What surprises me is that they’re not more eager to do so.

There are a few countries that have been very supportive. I’ll be announcing some names soon.

I heard they were sending missiles to the UAE. I said, “That’s strange, you know? The UAE is like the banker for Iran.” They’re sort of the banker.

Qatar, they are neighbors — they got along okay.

Then suddenly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait — Kuwait is getting hit. Bahrain is getting hit. All of these countries are getting hit.

No expert would have predicted that this was going to happen.

It’s not a question of whether we should have known. Even if we had known, we still have to do what we have to do.

The Strait of Hormuz is a famous, wonderful, and beautiful place, but you wouldn’t necessarily want to be sailing a boat there right now.

You know why? Not because of them—because of us.

We don’t know that any mines have even been dropped, but the thought that they would scares people that have billion-dollar ships.

That was the beginning of their downfall, because had he not gone, it's possible that we would not be this far advanced in destroying Iran, because he was a really good general.

He was a vicious, horrible man, but he was a brilliant general.

It’s a big chess game at a very high level.

It’s a very high-level chance—the highest—and I’m dealing with very smart players. These are smart people. They don’t get there [otherwise].

When you deal with some of these people, you know who you’re dealing with. High-level intellect. High—very high-IQ people.

These are really smart people and violent people and vicious people and some very nice people.

Some are very nice but they turn violent.

Because of the war, I want to be here. I feel like I have to be here.

And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so.

I'm looking forward to being with him — we have a very good relationship.

All my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba: "When will the United States do it?"

I do believe I’ll have the honor of taking Cuba. That would be good. That’s a big honor.

Taking Cuba — in some form. I mean, whether I free it or take it, I can do anything I want with it.

My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was prior to his employer's decision to kill diplomacy with another illegal military attack on Iran.

Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public.