Trump says U.S. will be imposing new sanctions on Iran
In the span of 60 seconds, President Trump on Saturday sent two tweets announcing dramatic policy decisions: the U.S. would impose "major" additional sanctions on Iran and the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants planned for Sunday would be delayed two weeks.
"Iran cannot have Nuclear Weapons! Under the terrible Obama plan, they would have been on their way to Nuclear in a short number of years, and existing verification is not acceptable. We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday," the president tweeted.
"I look forward to the day that sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again," he added. "The sooner the better!"
Earlier Saturday, Mr. Trump spoke to reporters before visiting Camp David, saying some sanctions would be implemented "slowly" and others "more rapidly." He also said military action against Iran is "always on the table until we get this solved."
Mr. Trump decided to call off a retaliatory strike after Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. drone earlier this week, saying he believed the casualty count would be disproportionate to Iran's attack. The president initially said he believed the strike was not intentional before walking back those comments on Saturday.
"It was probably intentional," he said. "Regardless, they targeted something without a person in it, without a man or woman, and certainly without anybody from the United States in it."
Mr. Trump said Iran had a plane carrying 38 people in its sights but officials made the "very wise" decision not to shoot it down. He said he wasn't unduly influenced by his national security adviser, John Bolton, who was a major proponent of the war in Iraq.
"I listen to everybody," Mr. Trump said, adding he would consider making a new deal with Iran. Last year, the U.S. pulled out of the deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama, which led to rising tensions between the two countries.
"If Iran wants to become a wealthy nation again and become a prosperous nation, we'll call it, 'Let's make Iran great again,'" he said. "They're never gonna do it if they think in five or six years, they're gonna have a nuclear weapon."
In his second major announcement, the president tweeted that his immigration crackdown would be delayed. Under the crackdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would target more than 2,000 people, including families, who have been given final deportation orders.
"At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border," he tweeted. "If not, Deportations start!"
