Donald Trump: Iran deal will be "totally renegotiated -- or worse"
Just before he took over the podium at a Washington, D.C. rally Wednesday to protest the Iran nuclear accord, Donald Trump told CBS News' Major Garrett that if he became president, the deal "will be totally renegotiated -- or worse."
The real estate mogul repeated the promise he made in an editorial published by USA Today Tuesday, when he said he would negotiate "the immediate release of our American prisoners and ask Congress to impose new sanctions that stop Iran from having the ability to sponsor terrorism around the world."
But when pressed on specifics of a renegotiated agreement on Wednesday, Trump only promised that "you're gonna have to watch."
"I don't want to talk -- I don't want to say things that the other side is gonna learn everything about me. Do you understand that?" Trump said to Garrett. "That's part of the problem. Everything is talk in this country. They talk and talk and they say this is what they're gonna -- I don't want to say."
"I will tell you: that deal will be totally renegotiated -- or worse," the billionaire businessman continued. "Or worse. And we will get back."
Congressional debate on the Iran deal is already underway, but the agreement is an almost sure win for the Obama administration. Last week, Senate Republicans failed to come up with a veto-proof majority on a resolution disapproving of the accord. And the resolution has hit a snag in the House, where Republican division in the lower chamber postponed a procedural vote Wednesday.
But Trump still has hope that the terms of the agreement can be changed after 2016.
"You watch what happens," Trump said. "It'll be a whole different deal and this country will be respected again. We are not respected as a country at all. Our country will be respected again."
Watch the full interview with Donald Trump Wednesday, 6:30 PM (ET) on CBS' Evening News.