| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
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One table, two leaders, one goal, to find common ground. | |
| This fall, Ceasefire, on the network that doesn't take sides, only on C-SPAN. | ||
| Democracy. | ||
| It isn't just an idea. | ||
| It's a process. | ||
| A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles. | ||
| It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course is charted. | ||
| Democracy in real time. | ||
| This is your government at work. | ||
| This is C-SPAN, giving you your democracy unfiltered. | ||
| The State Department's Tammy Bruce spoke to reporters about the recent U.S. military strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. | ||
| She also answers questions on several topics, including the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, the next steps following the strikes, and the release of 14 political prisoners in Belarus. | ||
| Thank you, ma'am. | ||
| Hi, everybody. | ||
| Thank you for coming. | ||
| Appreciate you being here. | ||
| I'll get mad at Fox when they try to come in here late. | ||
| All right, you guys. | ||
| Of course, a few comments here as we begin on this Tuesday. | ||
| The past few days have proven that President Trump means what he says. | ||
| America can be proud that we have a president who puts America first and is a peacemaker. | ||
| As he said on his Truth Social, both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the war equally. | ||
| It was my great honor to destroy all nuclear facilities and capability and then stop the war. | ||
| Now, an update on the State Department's 24-7 efforts to assist U.S. citizens throughout the Middle East. | ||
| The Department has provided information and support to over 27,000 people seeking guidance regarding the conflict between Israel and Iran. | ||
| The vast majority of people we are in touch with are seeking information, which we provide regularly. | ||
| The State Department began assisted departure flights from Israel on June 21st. | ||
| Flights have departed Israel with hundreds of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents and their accompanying immediate family members. | ||
| We are grateful to our partners in the region and around the world for welcoming American citizens. | ||
| We also extend our deep appreciation for the government of Qatar's cooperation in the defense of the Udaid airbase, as well as our deep appreciation for the American, I should say the Al-Udaid airbase, as well as the deep appreciation for the American men and women in uniform who are there and for the vital role they continue to play for U.S. and regional security. | ||
| Yesterday, Iran launched several missiles against UAA UAB. | ||
| Many of those missiles were successfully intercepted due to the combined efforts of the U.S. and Qatari armed forces. | ||
| Thankfully, no Americans or Qataris were hurt. | ||
| In further announcements today, Secretary Rubio has landed along with the President at the NATO summit at The Hague. | ||
| As the Secretary has noted, under President Trump's decisive leadership, we're driving historic change at NATO. | ||
| Also this week, the United States will participate in the 55th organization of American States General Assembly in Antigua and Barbuda, where we will engage with regional partners to advance our shared goals for a safer, stronger, and more prosperous hemisphere. | ||
| Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will lead the U.S. delegation, reinforcing our commitment to supporting Rosa Maria Paia's candidacy to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, addressing the crisis in Haiti, and countering the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the Western Hemisphere. | ||
| In addition, today, the Department of State's Rewards for Justice program announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the location, recovery, and safe return of Mahmoud Shah Habibi. | ||
| Mr. Habibi was abducted and detained by the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence on August 10, 2022. | ||
| He has not been heard from since that time, and the so-called Taliban government has not yet provided any information about Mr. Habibi's whereabouts or condition. | ||
| We encourage anyone with information on Mr. Habibi to contact plus1-202-702-7843. | ||
| That is plus 1-202-702-7843 via signal, telegram, or WhatsApp, or go to rewardsforjustice.net. | ||
| That again is an up to a $5 million reward for Mahmoud Shah Habibi for his safe return. | ||
| And again, that is rewardsforjustice.net. | ||
| Excuse me. | ||
| Excuse me, Matt. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Please. | |
| I'm more of an announcement here. | ||
| To conclude today, the United States condemns the brutal and cowardly attack on the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church and offers its condolences to the victims and their families. | ||
| We call on the Syrian government to hold all perpetrators of violence accountable and ensure the security of all Syrians, including members of religious and ethnic minorities. | ||
| As Ambassador Barak has said, the United States continues to support the Syrian government as it fights against forces seeking to create instability and fear in their country and in the broader region. | ||
| And now I will take your questions. | ||
| Daphne, please. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Just on Israel-Iran, Trump has said that he was unhappy with both sides for breaching the ceasefire deal, but particularly frustrated with Israel. | ||
| Does the State Department have concerns about whether this truce will hold, and what conversations is Secretary Rubio having today with counterparts about this deal? | ||
| Yes, as I've noted in my announcement, and actually what, of course, we always appreciate about President Trump is you never really have to guess at what he's thinking, which is appreciated. | ||
| One of the most transparent men we've known. | ||
| Americans in the world have watched all of this unfold, I think, in a very clear way and certainly with the leader of the free world of the world, really essentially, and Donald Trump, making it clear his opinion. | ||
| And this is what also, I think, keeps things moving. | ||
| With any ceasefire dynamic, it's fragile. | ||
| And in the meantime, of course, things did come together, and there has been quiet in that region. | ||
| He did make clear his feelings about that. | ||
| But as I mentioned in the opening, that he said, gosh, just a couple of hours ago, both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the war equally. | ||
| It was my great honor to destroy all nuclear facilities and capability and then stop the war. | ||
| So obviously the president has believed from the beginning that diplomacy can stop wars, that it is the thing that we should rely on. | ||
| He leaned into that and it's continuing to work. | ||
| This is a dynamic now that is in play and is, I think, steady, as he has, I believe, also recognized based on his comments. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And then on his comments about China being able to continue to purchase oil from Iran, how did this come together? | |
| Was this part of the Israel-Iran ceasefire deal? | ||
| And what does that look like going forward? | ||
| Will sanctions that have been imposed be lifted? | ||
| Will there be waivers? | ||
| How does that look? | ||
| Those are all very good questions. | ||
| Yes, and it's obviously a very fast-moving, we've used the word fluid here many, many times, a very fast-moving environment. | ||
| The president has signaled what he expects, what he is looking forward to. | ||
| This is a cabinet and a government that acts to the nature of what he says and what he wants. | ||
| And in this case, of course, I'm not going to discuss what that process will be, the nature of any of the applications via the various departments in this government. | ||
| But clearly, we are focused on making sure that that guiding hand of President Trump prevails and moves this government forward. | ||
| So we will have to wait and see when it comes to what that ends up looking like. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| Yes, Andrea. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, just to follow up. | |
| Does that mean, I mean, just to translate, are we lifting sanctions? | ||
| It's happened to make that possible? | ||
| You know, I'm not going to get ahead of the president or try to guess at what his strategy will be, but it will be one that will benefit this country. | ||
| And that, again, he's very clear. | ||
| I think the difference is, obviously, sometimes you don't hear ahead of time about the trajectory of a president with President Trump. | ||
| He speaks honestly with us. | ||
| So I would suggest to not translate, to not speculate or guess, but to watch because things happen quickly and I think we'll find out sooner than later. | ||
| Yes, ma'am. | ||
|
unidentified
|
One more. | |
| Quick follow-up on something. | ||
| You quoted the President as saying, it was my great honor to destroy all nuclear facilities to stop the war. | ||
| As far as we know, the bomb damage assessment has not been done. | ||
| The Joint Chiefs Chairman was talking about how long it might take. | ||
| Do we have something more conclusive about destroying all of the nuclear facilities? | ||
| Well, a conclusive comment for me would be coming from the President of the United States. | ||
| I have great admiration for you, Andrea Mitchell, but I think he might know more than you do at this point. | ||
| More than I, more than any one of us here. | ||
| At the same time, obviously, the information that we receive, that the American people receive, and which will be public, will take some time. | ||
| But President Trump has indicated his pleasure at the success of that raid, which obviously was very limited in scope. | ||
| And that's a very good point, I think, when it comes to the nature of what's occurred. | ||
| And I'm pleased that the President is pleased. | ||
| Sean, Sean Tandon. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Sure. | |
| Could I pursue that? | ||
| Another comment from the President this morning. | ||
| He was saying that basically stop the bombs was the message that he sent to the Israelis. | ||
| Does he believe that the Israelis complied with this? | ||
| Is he happy with how the turnips? | ||
| Well, I think that there is early on, and again, I'm here at the State Department. | ||
| I know my colleague Caroline is very articulate and clear on the nature of the President, whom she represents, and the State Department at the White House. | ||
| But I think when we clearly look at the nature of how the day has transpired, there was some activity back and forth, and that has stopped, and the ceasefire has taken effect, and the President is pleased. | ||
| So, I think we can take that as an indicator of his feeling about it at this point. | ||
|
unidentified
|
One more. | |
| Sure. | ||
| And I mean, they're both statements both from Tehran and from Jerusalem today. | ||
| But, I mean, one of the things from the Israeli military chief was saying that they reserved this as just a phase and they reserved the right to go back in. | ||
| I mean, do you think that's consistent with the call for a ceasefire in terms of the Israeli statements on this? | ||
| Well, I think the statements that we've looked at that we care about are the fact that both, certainly Israel has agreed to the ceasefire. | ||
| And we believe there's a statement from Iran that has done so as well. | ||
| So those are the statements that we care about. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| Yes, sir. | ||
| Right there, sir. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tammy. | |
| Obviously, pretty epic diplomatic developments last night. | ||
| Can you walk us through any of the diplomatic steps that were taken that led to the ceasefire, and specifically Secretary Rubio's role? | ||
| What are some of the ongoing efforts to make sure this ceasefire sticks? | ||
| And then a separate but related question. | ||
| The President spoke this morning about the great trading potential with Iran. | ||
| Does this administration envision a broader rapprochement with Tehran that could lead to diplomatic ties being established, even the embassy being reopened? | ||
| Well, on both those issues, I can't speak directly to them, but I can say a few things in that certainly I wasn't there. | ||
| The Secretary of State was in a dynamic with the President that is a private dynamic as that team was addressing a war and the nature of how to stop it. | ||
| So I can't speak to how that transpired or the decisions that were made, but obviously a successful evening, successful aftermath when it comes also to a very quick ceasefire. | ||
| In the meantime, for your other question, which was, remind me again your second question. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, President Trump this morning spoke a little bit about the potential for trade with Iran. | |
| Oh, the trade. | ||
| The trade question was. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I was asking more about the military. | |
| Yes, obviously, again, while I can't speak obviously to the choices President Trump will make, what we do all know is that he is a businessman. | ||
| Americans appreciate that about him, the nature of how he looks at the issue of national security and safety. | ||
| And he has in the past addressed the issue of relationships with this country, keep other nations secure, that we are a good friend to have, that a friendship with the United States assists and helps facilitate the natural national security of another nation. | ||
| So I look at that and his approach in certain things, and that's been certainly his attitude about it. | ||
| And it seems to be a correct one. | ||
| It's one I agree with. | ||
| So I think we'll see that if that in fact is the case here, and we'll find out. | ||
| All right. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks, Danny. | |
| Is there any sort of monitoring mechanism for the ceasefire if it continues to hold? | ||
| Will there be a third party that is making sure that both sides are adhering to this ceasefire? | ||
| Well, as the State Department, I can't really speak to that. | ||
| I think that's a DOD question and certainly a White House question. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And then how do you view the next steps for nuclear talks potentially resuming in light of this ceasefire? | |
| Is there anything on the schedule, any follow-on conversations between the two sides to try to resume the talks that had been? | ||
| Well, I can't speak to a schedule. | ||
| I'm not going to guess or speculate about when something might happen. | ||
| What we do know, and President Trump, throughout this process, had been tweeting about the fact that this would be a good time for negotiations to renew, for these talks to renew. | ||
| Of course, with some disappointment that it got to this point, he has been committed to diplomacy and to discussions. | ||
| Obviously, he's displayed that for these last five months. | ||
| And I would think that that has not changed. | ||
| So the commitment, not just from President Trump, but also from Secretary Rubio, to minimize the need and go out of your way for the need to not engage militarily is clearly a hallmark for him and his view of national security and foreign policy as it is for Secretary Rubio. | ||
| And I would expect that approach and that commitment to remain the same. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Impeachment? | |
| Yes, go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks, Tammy. | |
| Just to follow on that. | ||
| Over the weekend, the President, many other cabinet members, they said that the strikes by the U.S. military on Iranian facilities had obliterated the nuclear program. | ||
| Because of that, do you see that as buying more time for these negotiations to play out? | ||
| Has the urgency at all changed? | ||
| And there are reports that Qatar has tried to mediate nuclear talks, try to restart those. | ||
| Are you receptive of Qatari efforts at this point? | ||
| Well, that's not something I can address in any detail at all. | ||
| I do know that the President was very confident in his assertion of the destruction of those sites. | ||
| That was necessary because of the point that he's had from the start of this, which is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. | ||
| That has been a very singular, clear point, and the understanding is now they're not going to have one. | ||
| And that clearly might open the door for the people involved in those kinds of decisions about how to move forward. | ||
| But that was, and the strikes indicated that. | ||
| It was a very distinctive, limited strike regarding the issue that was in the forefront of the President's mind that he made clear over and over again, that they will not have a nuclear weapon. | ||
| And now they will not have a nuclear weapon. | ||
| How we move forward from here is up to the President of the United States. | ||
| Said, yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Now that we have the ceasefire between Iran and Israel seems to be holding, are we likely to see renewed efforts to have a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and Gaza? | ||
| I mean, you know, just four figures, Tammy, you know, maybe 400 people got killed in the exchanges between Israel and Iran. | ||
| In the same period, 700 Palestinians have died, many of them at the aid distribution centers. | ||
| Yeah, this is why, and we are reminded about why the ceasefire efforts are important. | ||
| It is a reminder about why the President and why we're lucky for President Trump to be our President and for Secretary Rubio to be focusing on changing the status quo on this planet and changing the old dynamic of wanting new ideas that has been his hallmark from the start. | ||
| And that has not changed. | ||
| What we can say, and just as a reminder, Saeed, there is a deal on the table. | ||
| Hamas must stop acting recklessly and accept it. | ||
| As Special Envoy Witkoff has said, Hamas's recent response to the offer was totally unacceptable and only takes us backward. | ||
| It hasn't been that long, right? | ||
| A lot of stuff is happening in a short period of time. | ||
| But the fact of the matter is, is that we've never stopped working for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. | ||
| We've never stopped wanting that to end to get us out of that repetition of something that has certainly made the first victims, the people of the Gaza Strip, and then everyone else. | ||
| It's a reflection of what needs to end and what has been the problem. | ||
| President Trump has made clear to, in this case, Hamas specifically, that they will face consequences if they continue to hold hostages, which they do, including those who have already passed away and those who are still living. | ||
| Hamas has rejected repeated ceasefire proposals and therefore bears sole responsibility for how this is continuing. | ||
| Said, if you have a chance, I don't know if you do in your work, to pose the same question to Hamas. | ||
| It would be, you could, I hope you might be asking them. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'll do it through my article. | |
| I have no direct communication. | ||
| Yes, sir, they're in the middle here. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you very much. | |
| President Trump has long said that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. | ||
| That is correct. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That is clear. | |
| Do you think it is important for Iran to change its foreign policy because the U.S. always says it is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and the stabilizing region? | ||
| I obviously can't speak to what's in the mind of the so-called leadership of Iran. | ||
| I do know that the future of Iran is in the hands of the Iranian people. | ||
| And whether or not certain individuals change their approach or belief, I think what has happened, the whole world has noted that the world has changed and that nothing will be the same. | ||
| And how that plays out, we are very lucky that we have President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and a cabinet that is united in the nature of what we're trying to do for the next three and a half years. | ||
| One more, yes, yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
One more, one of the Kurdistan regional government leadership and strongly welcome President Trump's statement about peace. | |
| Do you want to comment on it? | ||
| Well, no, there's again, things are happening and moving along so quickly. | ||
| Obviously, everything in that region, in the Middle East, has changed. | ||
| And we will have to see where those who are leading this charge and this change, again, the American leadership here with Trump, Rubio, and JD Vance, of course, just strong leadership across the board. | ||
| We're very lucky, as we've seen also with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. | ||
| We are very early in this administration. | ||
| Think about it. | ||
| We are in the middle of June. | ||
| And we've seen the results now of men and women who are focused. | ||
| So we'll see for the Kurds and others as well. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tammy. | |
| Two questions for you. | ||
| Number one, especially considering the Secretary is now at NATO. | ||
| Yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Does the Secretary feel like European allies had America's back to the extent that they should in this Iranian operation? | |
| I'm not talking about militarily, but from a general support standpoint, beyond just platitudes of concern about the Iranian nuclear program, do you feel like you got backing from Europe on this? | ||
| Well, I'm not going to comment or speculate on the feelings or assessments of our partners in any kind of dynamic. | ||
| That's between them. | ||
| It's about the leaders of the world. | ||
| Right now, what I can tell you is that President Trump and Secretary Rubio are right there in The Hague at NATO for conversations with our partners throughout Europe. | ||
| And I think that everyone expects that to be very successful. | ||
| It's going to be a very exciting time. | ||
| It's a perfect time for those conversations to be had. | ||
| And I'm not going to speculate on the nature of those any conversations or can speculate on the feelings of people either. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Second question for you. | |
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
In terms of regime change in Iran, the initial message coming out of the administration was, we're not after regime change, we're after the nuclear weapons program. | |
| Then the president remarked today, regime change is not a good idea because of the chaos that it would cause. | ||
| So what is the administration, specifically the State Department's message here to Iranians who are suffering under the oppression of the regime? | ||
| How do they move forward? | ||
| And does America have their back considering the president said regime change is not a good idea right now? | ||
| Well, again, that's in the perspective, certainly, of the president and what his actions. | ||
| He feels what actions are important, what our intentions were. | ||
| It was very clear from the start, from the very beginning, for years, the president has spoken about the problem of Iran and how they can't have a nuclear weapon. | ||
| This is not a new idea, and it's certainly a globally held idea. | ||
| But we've said here at the State Department repeatedly in a number of different dynamics that the fates of countries belong in the hands of the people in those countries. | ||
| That is the overriding general message of the Marco Rubio State Department. | ||
| It is the kind of thing that when we think about not just democracy, but the nature of the decision of citizens to decide what kind of leadership they want. | ||
| That is what our position is for certainly Iran and every other country on this planet. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tammy. | |
| Two questions. | ||
| One on your own. | ||
| Have you received any signals or messages from Iran that they are willing to come back to the table this first? | ||
| And secondly, are you still sticking with the proposal that you sent to Iran, or we are open to discuss more broadly? | ||
| Well, again, as we know, many, many things have changed in just the last few days. | ||
| And so I won't speak to what messages may have been sent to Iran, which would have been, of course, to the White House and to Secretary Rubio as the national security advisor. | ||
| So I would ask you to check with the White House for that. | ||
| And the next one, yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, on your opening remarks, you said that the United States is ready to help the Syrian government to fight against forces seeking to create instability. | |
| Would you elaborate that what kind of support are you willing to offer to the Syrian interim government? | ||
| Are you willing to help them or provide them military support? | ||
| Well, I think already we know, of course, of the assignment as a special envoy of Ambassador Tom Barak has been a very clear indicator of our commitment to helping Syria be able to be a functional and steady and stable government. | ||
| He, of course, is the ambassador to Turkey. | ||
| And our commitment through his work is about getting the structure, the stability of the government as functional. | ||
| We also, of course, as you know, have lifted many of the sanctions to make it possible for other nations in that region to assist the new government also in becoming stronger and able to, in that region especially, deal with terrorist groups, especially deal with ISIS. | ||
| And that is our commitment. | ||
| So it is, I think, manifesting now very clearly. | ||
| And Ambassador Barak is there as our envoy in that regard. | ||
| And it's a very exciting time with a lot of potential. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
| In the gray suit there. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tammy. | |
| You've been in the negotiations process with the Iranians for almost the last two months at the State Department. | ||
| And the Iranian Foreign Minister just last Friday, he said that they suspect that the negotiations with the U.S. used as a cover for the Israeli attack. | ||
| And a day after that came the U.S. raid on Iranian nuclear establishment there and the buildings. | ||
| Are you able to build, restore the trust between you and Iran? | ||
| And how do you see these claims from the Iranian side? | ||
| Well, that's certainly a question that I can't answer, but we've got the best people in the world who are doing this for a living, who have committed their lives to making a difference here in the world. | ||
| The president has not indicated that, as a matter of fact, he really opened his presidency with a willingness to talk with everyone. | ||
| And as a peacemaker, that is what he's done. | ||
| And I would suspect that that approach will continue. | ||
| All right? | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tammy. | |
| Do you think that there is any lesson for North Korea to learn from the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, given that North Korea has been doubling down on its nuclear program, despite the Trump administration's commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea? | ||
| Well, again, the nature of the choices that are made, I won't speculate about what other countries should think or do. | ||
| At the same time, President Trump, in his first term, made significant outreach to North Korea. | ||
| And what I can say, of course, and they've got their own nuclear program at North Korea, that we remain committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea. | ||
| That remains a commitment. | ||
| If the North Korean nuclear issue can't be resolved through dialogue, I'm not going to speculate on hypotheticals at this point, but thank you very much. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Yes, there you are. | ||
| Hello. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Just on a follow-up on North Korea. | ||
| Has there been significant outreach from the State Department to the North Koreans? | ||
| I'm not going to speak to any whether they exist or not, any diplomatic efforts outside. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| All right. | ||
| And yes, go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tammy. | |
| I just wondered whether you have any further information on reports of a drone attack that happened to multiple Iraqi military sites early this morning, local time, Tuesday, whether you know at all whether Iran was behind those adrone attacks at all. | ||
| I would suggest that the DOD might be the place that it might have an answer to that. | ||
| Anything else? | ||
| All right. | ||
| Daphne? | ||
| You're good? | ||
| All right. | ||
| And then, yes, go ahead, sir, at the end. | ||
|
unidentified
|
What can you tell us? | |
| About the material that was removed from those nuclear sites. | ||
| There are satellite pictures of trucks lying. | ||
| Oh, nothing. | ||
| I can tell you nothing. | ||
| Just saving some time here. | ||
| Yeah, I'm not going to speculate or discuss what may or may not have been removed from a particular site. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, then can you tell us, based on what you do know, how far, how many years? | |
| I can talk about the English royal family. | ||
| I love them. | ||
|
unidentified
|
How many years would this have knocked back the nuclear program? | |
| And could that have been avoided if the U.S. had remained in the JCPOA? | ||
| You know, when it comes to what's happened with Iran, we can look back several decades about the nature of the choices that certain administrations made that helped facilitate the nature of the building of that program. | ||
| Donald Trump inherited a world. | ||
| He had left a world that was at peace, and he inherited one that was tipping over. | ||
| And so his commitment, and what we look at here right now, is recognizing the status of things and what needs to be done to fix them. | ||
| And that's what we're focused on. | ||
| All right. | ||
| And Matt Lee, I have a feeling you might have a question. | ||
| I vaguely remember. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I agree, but now it turns out that the first time I was already answered, so I do have a different one. | |
| But all I was trying to find out was whether you didn't mention it that Mr. Hibibi was an American, which it turns out that he is. | ||
| But has he been wrongfully determined to be wrongfully detained? | ||
| We have determined that he has been disappeared and that he has not been heard from. | ||
| And that that is why there's the rewards for justice, is that he was taken and he has not been heard from since. | ||
| And we are hoping that this appeal may bring forward with up to $5 million. | ||
| It makes a difference in everyone's lives. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I sure it does. | |
| That we might get some information about him. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, then just the other thing was you had been asked earlier and yesterday, I think, about this money that is apparently going to go to fund the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. | |
| Have you been able to uncover anything about that? | ||
| Well, here's what has always been the case with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. | ||
| I now know that there's, I think it's close to 44 million meals, 44 million meals that have been distributed, which is a pretty darn good record, and they continue now at four sites to distribute them. | ||
| We have repeatedly noted that we have not funded this entity, but it is, I believe, really the response of the call from President Trump for that region and that area in particular that we've got to have new ideas about how to change the nature of what's occurring. | ||
| The region has stepped up. | ||
| Other nations have stepped up, agreeing that the situation in Gaza has to be dealt with differently. | ||
| We have to refuse to let it continue. | ||
| And while we have a humanitarian crisis manifesting, is to do our best in an area that a terrorist group refuses to cooperate, ignores ceasefires, continues to hold hostages, and refuses to put down their weapons, that we are committed to endorsing, helping, promoting efforts to make a difference. | ||
| When it comes to how that will manifest for the GHF, I can't say right now. | ||
| But again, it's nice to know that 44 million meals have been distributed. | ||
| That, like everything else for the last few days, in the Middle East, everything has changed. | ||
| How that manifests in the Gaza Strip is yet to be determined, but I'm sure we have another briefing on Thursday, and who knows, we'll have something new at that point as well. | ||
| All right, yes, go ahead. | ||
| And this will be it, yes. | ||
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This weekend, Keith Kellogg went to Belarus, and it secured the release of 14 political partners. | |
| Do you have any more details on those efforts? | ||
| And did the Lukashenko regime get anything for releasing these prisoners, sanctions related? | ||
| I do have a few things I can say to you about that. | ||
| And this is the condition of our world. | ||
| This is a huge story, and it really is, you know, comes up later, but it tells you the nature of what's transpiring. | ||
| While in Minsk, the U.S. delegation led by General Keith Kellogg, Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine, met with the leader of Belarus and his team. | ||
| Special Envoy Kellogg discussed the Russia-Ukraine war and how President Trump is pushing hard to stop that war and end the killing. | ||
| And Deputy Special Envoy John Cole led the discussions on U.S.-Belarus bilateral relations, which resulted in the release of 14 long-held political prisoners from Estonia, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, and Belarus. | ||
| And that is the result of what you can do with diplomacy, with envoys, and with a commitment to peace and freedom for people around the world. | ||
| And we are blessed to have President Trump as our president, the wisdom of the American people, and of course, Marco Rubio is our Secretary of State. | ||
| We are five months in or so to this administration, and it's an honor to be here. | ||
| Thank you, everyone. | ||
| I'll see you on Thursday. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
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The former Ohio Senator is back in his home state to attend the Ohio Republican Party dinner. |