Q Will the deportation raids start tomorrow? And what will you do if cities are saying that they will not comply?
THE PRESIDENT: The deportation raids, as you call them, are really a group of very, very good law enforcement people going by the law, going by the rules, going by our court system, and taking people out of our country who came into our country illegally. They came into our country illegally, and we're taking them out legally. We're bringing them back to their countries.
I want to thank - while I'm here, I want to thank Mexico. So far, Mexico has been really good. They made an agreement, probably - not "probably" - because of tariffs. But they made an agreement. And so far, they've really honored the agreement. A lot of things are changing.
But again, if Congress gave us something quickly on asylum; something quickly on loopholes, where we get rid of the loopholes; the border would be so beautiful. But the Democrats just won't do it.
But maybe now they will, because there's no question you have a national emergency. They said that, in the last caravan, they had hundreds of people that commit crimes trying to come into our country. We're not letting them. And now Mexico is bringing them back.
But they had hundreds of people - hundreds - that were criminals in the last caravan. We cannot allow that to happen. We're not letting them in our country.
One other thing. We're very focused on MS-13, getting them out. And I hope you're not going to stick up too much for MS-13. But we're very focused - ICE. ICE is - these are fantastic people. We're very, very focused on getting MS-13 out of this country.
How are you?
Q Good. I have a question on Iran. The 150 estimate (inaudible) -
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Go ahead.
Q The 150 estimate that you got late on Thursday night, why was that different from the estimate you got earlier in the day from your national security team?
THE PRESIDENT: It wasn't really. I didn't talk too much about that. Again, no decision to go forward was made, because I said, "We'll meet at a certain time before the - and nothing goes forward until we meet." I didn't want anybody doing anything. And when we met -
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: And when we met, they gave me a rough estimate, earlier, but I wanted a more accurate estimate. The more accurate estimate where - I won't go into the number of sites, but you guessed that pretty much right. You have, in particular, all right? But it was the number of sites, and it was, on average, 40 to 50 people at each site. And when they shot down an unmanned place or drone, I didn't like it.
Q That came from an attorney in the Pentagon and through the - into the White House?
THE PRESIDENT: No, that came from me.
Q No, I mean the estimate came through -
THE PRESIDENT: It did. But it was given to me by a general.
Q Was that Dunford, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: I had a long talk with Dunford. He's a great gentleman.
Q Was he the side of (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: He was. Dunford did a great job. Dunford is a terrific man and he's a terrific general.
Yeah.
Q Will you talk about Iran at Camp Iran?
THE PRESIDENT: I'll be talking about Iran at Camp David, yeah. We have a series of meetings, and, more importantly, a series of very well connected phone calls. We have a great phone system up there, and - as you know. So I'll be doing a lot of work.
Q Will you tell us who you'll be talking to?
THE PRESIDENT: We may release it later. We may.
Q (Inaudible) ayatollah?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, Iran, right now, is an economic mess. They're going through hell. The sanctions have hit them hard. More sanctions are going to be put on - a lot more. It's hard to believe you can even put on. But it's a mess.
All I want is no nuclear weapons. Under the horrible Obama deal, he gave them a $150 billion. He gave them $1.8 billion in cash. Think of that - in cash. Many planeloads of cash. He gave them $1.8 billion in cash, and he got nothing.
But the thing he really didn't get was good inspection rights, because the most primary places, you couldn't go to, you couldn't inspect. We haven't seen them in years.
The other thing he didn't get is time. Because, in a very short number of years, they will legally be able to make a nuclear weapon. That's unacceptable.
And remember this: The deal wasn't even ratified in Congress. It never got proper - in terms of treaty - it never got proper authorization from Congress.
So, with all of that, it was very important to me. So we'll start all over. We could have a deal with them very quickly, if they want to do it. I - it's up to them. But if Iran wants to become a wealthy nation again, become a prosperous nation - we'll call it
"Let's make Iran great again." Does that make sense?
"Make Iran great again." It's okay with me.
But they're never going to do it if they think, in five or six years, they're going to have a nuclear weapon. I know too much about nuclear - a lot about nuclear - and let me just tell you, they're not going to have a nuclear weapon.
If that's - and it has very little to do with the oil. Because, again, China get its oil - 91 percent; Japan get its oil - 60 percent; Indonesia; so many other countries. What it has to do with, very simply, is the fact is we're not going to have Iran have a nuclear weapon. And when they agree to that, they are going to have a wealthy country, they're going to be so happy, and I'm going to be their best friend. I hope that happens. I hope that happens, but it may not.
Q Would your decision have been different if it was 10 to 15 casualties, instead of 100 to 150 casualties?
THE PRESIDENT: It's - anything is a lot when they shoot down an unmanned, okay? So anything is a lot. I didn't like it. I didn't like it.
Q If they shoot down another drone, will you not have to reply to that either?
THE PRESIDENT: Say it.
Q If they shoot down another unmanned drone, will you also not -
THE PRESIDENT: We'll see. But I don't think that will happen. I don't think that'll happen. And if you notice, there was a plane with 38 people yesterday - did you see that? I think that's a big story.
Q Is that accurate?
THE PRESIDENT: They had it in their sights, and they didn't shoot it down.
Q That was accurate?
THE PRESIDENT: I think they were very wise not to do that, and we appreciate that they didn't do that. But they had a plane in their sights - 38 people on the plane - and they didn't shoot it down. And I think that was a very wise decision. And - and I think that's something that we very much appreciate.
Q Is it accurate to say that your national security team brought you a plan for a planned strike and it didn't have a fully formed estimate on casualties?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No. They brought me a great plan. But I wanted to know, at the end - I wanted an accurate count. They gave me very odd numbers. I wanted an accurate count as to how many people would be killed, how many Iranians would be killed.
And, as I said: Coming from New York, I know a lot of Iranians. They're great people.
Thank you very much.
Q (Inaudible) military action on Iran still on the table?
THE PRESIDENT: It's always on the table until we get this solved, yeah. We have a tremendously powerful military force in that area. It's always on the table until we get this solved.
Thank you.
END • 10:37 A.M. EDT
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