US President Trump insisted there are “no limits” to his power when asked in a new interview about his takeaways from the Iran war, The Hill reports.
The president was pressed by Axios’s Marc Caputo during an interview about whether he learned there are bounds to his power during the Middle East conflict.
“I haven’t learned that lesson yet,” he replied. “I know there are, but there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily.”
Caputo also asked Trump about his original promise that the war would end with an “unconditional surrender” from Tehran, pointing to the memorandum of understanding he signed on Wednesday.
“Well, it really probably is unconditional surrender,” Trump told the outlet.
The 14-point agreement includes provisions to lift sanctions on Iran and supply the nation with a $300 billion reconstruction fund, in exchange for Iran making concessions on its nuclear program and existing stockpile of nuclear material.
But the details of the deal were largely punted to further talks. The immediate effect of the deal is Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting sanctions on its oil exports and ending its blockade of the waterway.
The memorandum of understanding drew immediate pushback from several GOP lawmakers, with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) calling it the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
Trump’s signing of the deal on Wednesday started a 60-day clock for technical negotiations for a final peace deal with Tehran.
Vice President Vance’s planned trip to Switzerland this weekend for the next round of negotiations was delayed at the last minute Thursday evening amid ongoing strikes between Israel and Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Vance told reporters Thursday afternoon that he still plans to participate in the talks, but he does not know “exactly when” they will take place.
“We think these technical negotiations start sometime this weekend,” he said during a White House press briefing. “That’s still the plan. But that could change.”
Switzerland’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the postponement of these discussions on Friday, which were set to include delegations from the U.S. and Iran and mediating countries Qatar and Pakistan.
“Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks,” the department said in a statement. “The relevant preparatory work at Bürgenstock is continuing. No further information can be provided at present.”
