Former President Barack Obama is again trying to get involved in a high-stakes event led by President Donald Trump.
Obama took a shot at Trump’s war with Iran, arguing his government “got it done without firing a missile” in a robust defense of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
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The Late Show presenter Stephen Colbert presented the new tape from an interview shot in April at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
In an unprecedented moment, Colbert probed the ex-president on whether he ever thought of “military action” as a “tool” in his negotiations with Iran.
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“Oh, it was definitely considered,” Obama admitted.
“My basic theory was that Iran couldn’t become a nuclear state. That the regime itself was murderous, oftentimes towards its own people,” Obama added.
“Iran has engaged in state-sponsored terrorism, was a threat to the United States and allies of ours. So the idea that they would have nuclear weapons would be extraordinarily dangerous,” Obama continued.
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“It would also trigger a nuclear arms race in what is a powder keg,” Obama said, adding that he also believed that the regime was “not entirely irrational” and military action would be a “last resort instead of the first.”
Praising what is known as the “Iran nuclear deal” – formally the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – he explained that it was “internationally agreed upon” that “mechanisms” be put in place to “enforce” and “verify” Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.
“And we pulled it off without firing a missile. We got 97% of their enriched uranium out,” he said. “They were able to maintain a modest civilian nuclear program for energy.”
In a pointed jab at Trump’s strikes and the subsequent shuttering of the key trade route through the Strait of Hormuz, Obama insisted that the deal was “working.”
“Not only did I think it was working, even Israeli intelligence thought it was working, even our intelligence services thought it was working,” he said. “So, there’s no dispute that it worked. And we didn’t have to kill a whole bunch of people or shut down the Strait of Hormuz.”
The move comes as President Trump is on a high-stakes trip to China.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping told American CEOs traveling with President Donald Trump that business in China will become more accessible.
“Xi said that U.S. companies are deeply involved in China’s reform and opening up, and both sides have benefited from this,” according to a report from state-backed newspaper Xinhua.
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“Noting that China’s door will only open wider, Xi said China welcomes the United States to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation with China and expressed belief that U.S. companies will enjoy even broader prospects in China,” the report added.
Among the top technology CEOs who traveled with Trump to China were Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
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Trump introduced them to Xi individually.
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“The U.S. entrepreneurs said that they attach great importance to the Chinese market, and hope to deepen their business operations in China and strengthen cooperation with China,” the newspaper said.
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The White House, posting on X, appeared to reciprocate the sentiment around market access.
“The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment,” the White House said in a statement on X.
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