'ECONOMIC WARFARE': President Trump announces new Iran strategy

Breaking tonight, President Trump says. negotiations with Iran will resume maybe. at some point. He says the situation. right now is {quote} so good. Fox News. is told the president has asked his team. not to engage until Iran is really ready. to make a deal. The president addressed. technology leaders this afternoon. Correspondent Lucas Thomason reports. tonight live from the North Lawn. Good. evening, Lucas. >> Good evening, Bret. President Trump. shifting his focus away from Iran today. to the South Lawn of the White House.

where he showed off the new helipad and. later hosted leaders from the crypto. industry. >> We're ensuring that America remains the. undisputed leader not only in Bitcoin. and crypto, but also technologies like. prediction markets, artificial. intelligence, and much more. >> President Trump hosting crypto. executives at the White House today. pressing Congress to pass new. legislation to help the US stay ahead of. China. The president had Beijing on his. mind when he toured the new White House. helipad this afternoon including signing.

the granite along with construction. workers and members of the military. >> This is going to be used for a lot of. different celebrations. Presidency is. coming in a little while, a couple of. weeks. >> While taking questions from reporters on. Iran, the president downplayed the. Strait of Hormuz which he now calls new. US territory. >> People have found other alternatives. which they never thought about. Texas, Alaska, Louisiana, and other places. The. Hormuz Strait's not going to be quite as. important as it was in the past. >> After Iran fired missiles at the United.

Arab Emirates, the UAE says it has. halted all trade and financial. transactions with Iran. >> There is nuisance value when they shoot. a drone every once in a while. >> At least six commercial vessels have. been attacked this month while. transiting the strait including one this. week. US and regional officials say for. now the naval blockade and economic. pressure will continue. It's a question. of who blinks first, they say. >> Iran is trying to drive up the cost for. the United States and our allies by.

disrupting trade in the Strait of. Hormuz. >> While Trump says talks with Iran could. resume in the future, the president said. he's also looking to restart talks with. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. >> Are you expecting to meet with him later. this year? >> Yeah, I will be. >> And provided an intelligence estimate on. how many nukes North Korea has. >> He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. >> To deal with threats from North Korea. and China right now, the US Navy does. not have an aircraft carrier in the. Pacific. Brett? >> And Lucas, President Trump was supposed.

to levy tariffs on Canada today, but. didn't. What happened? >> That's right, Brett. The president was. supposed to levy 50% tariffs on Canada. today, but today he instituted a 3-day. pause cuz he thinks a deal is close. >> We've come to a deal with Canada. As you know, the 50% tariffs across the. board were going on against Canada. today, and they called yesterday and they uh. gave us the points that we had to have. Very fair deal for both. >> The president also said the Keystone XL.

pipeline might be making a comeback. Brett? >> Lucas Tomlinson live on the North Lawn. Lucas, thanks. >> The Justice Department says they have. uncovered a massive Iranian cyber spying. operation targeting America. 17 Iranians. now accused of stealing a trove of. sensitive information from US schools, businesses, and government agencies. Correspondent Alexandria Hoff live at. the White House with all the details for. us, Alex. >> Hi John. The scope of this scam. absolutely massive. In academia alone,

uh the DOJ says that over 100,000. university professors worldwide were. targeted with 31 terabytes of critical. information, research, and intellectual. property stolen and then sold within. Iran. Now, the DOJ says that 144. US-based universities were targeted. along with 42 private sector companies, five federal and state agencies. including the Department of Labor Labor. and at least two NGOs as well. This. began in 2013 and the original 2018.

indictment charged nine individuals. Yesterday's action added eight new. defendants and revealed a much larger. state-sponsored plot with the hackers. allegedly operating on behalf of the. Iranian government. In a statement, the. Justice Department assures these charges. make clear that the passage of time will. not deter us from identifying and. pursuing those who target the United. States from abroad. And federal. investigators say one tactic that these. hackers used was specifically reaching. out to individual professors. They would. pose as an academic peer saying that.

they were interested in their research. Hey, could you check mine out? Send them. to a fake portal where the professor's. credentials would then be compromised. John. >> At point, the UAE is cutting trade and. financial ties with Iran after. intercepting two Iranian missiles, but. Tehran denies the attack calling the. claim quote completely unfounded. Now, Iran is reportedly considering strikes. on US military assets in Europe if. President Trump escalates the conflict. Meanwhile, President Trump was asked. about reopening talks with Iran earlier. today.

>> Maybe at some point, but. uh right now, I think the situation is. so good, but maybe at some point. Look, it's very simple. They have to get. rid of completely they have to get rid. of no nuclear weapons. Iran cannot have. a nuclear You know why? Cuz they'd use. it. >> All right, let's bring in retired. two-star Marine Corps General Arnold. Punaro. General, it's great to see you. So, the president seems quite. comfortable to let Iran twist in the. wind. In addition to that statement, he. put this out on Truth Social yesterday. Said, "There are no talks or. conversations going on or scheduled with.

the Islamic Republic of Iran. The naval. blockade remains in full force and. effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and. operating. All water mines have been. removed or detonated." He feels like. he's in the catbird seat here. >> John, before getting to that very. important topic, I want to compliment. you, Sandra, and Fox for that very. powerful segment you just did about the. mother that was murdered in Great Falls. That's in our backyard. You and I know. that area well, and those of us that are. Fairfax residents, we have an obligation. when we vote for law enforcement.

personnel and prosecutors, we vote. people in that are going to crack down. on these areas. In terms of your answer. about Iran, um I would have said before. you made all those comments, we were in. a protracted stalemate, but obviously. Iran is escalating. >> Mhm. >> They clearly attacked the UAE. They're. You know, I don't care if they denied. it, they did it. The UAE has stopped. trade, as your segment said, billions of. dollars a year. Iran is still attacking. ships in the Straits of Hormuz, although. they claim the straits are open, and we. take that same position. The Wall Street.

Journal's recent most recent analysis. is, prior to the conflict, 130 ships a. day, now it's a trickle, maybe three to. four on a good day, six. And now Iran is. threatening they're going to escalate. against US targets outside of the Middle. East area of operations into southern. Europe. If they attack a US target in a. NATO nation, they just triggered Article. 5. 32 nations then will be at war with. Iran. And so, I would say they're making. a big mistake thinking. um that they have the upper hand. They.

don't have the upper hand. The president. is correct to keep the economic and. maritime pressure on, and time is on our. side. >> You know, uh General Jack Keane, uh I. know he's not Marines, but but he agrees. wholeheartedly with you about Iran maybe. going to shoot itself in the foot by. doing that. Listen to what he said here. >> Iranians are about to miscalculate, and. they've done it before with this. president. And they they believe that uh being more. aggressive, being more violent to uh. create the image that this war is not.

working right, and it's going to cause. him political damage. He's not going to stand for that. I. believe they'll go after everything that. they value. What do they really value? What they value the most is all of their. oil and gas infrastructure. And And I. think that's very likely that we would. take that down once and for all. >> You know, as I said, the president at. the moment thinks that he's got time on. his side. The price of oil is high, but. not that high. Iran is sort of getting. frantic here about trying to get the. attention of the president. He's just.

really kind of not paying attention to. them. But if they do go this extra mile, as you said, an attack on NATO, one. nation is an attack on all, could. trigger an Article 5 response, but at. the very latest. Iran claims that it's trying to put. together a coalition to some other. countries against the United States, but. it looks like the world's against it at. this point. >> No No question about it. And I have. immense respect for General Jack Keane, long-standing colleague of many of us. Uh by the way, he's the first person. maybe 10 years ago that. publicly talked about the threat from.

China. Uh I think his analysis is spot-on. I. would say that if Iran thinks, you know, because of the mid-year politics, the. president's going to blink or or not, you know, keep the pressure on, I think. they're just sadly mistaken. And I don't. see them getting anybody on their side. When you attack your allies and your. neighbors that you trade with, that's. not a very smart move. When you talk. about triggering Article 5 in NATO, that. would be one of the most foolhardy. military things I could think of. >> Yeah, well, they don't seem to be too. bright these days. Um in addition to. this attack against the UAE, the other.

day the office of Masrour Barzani, who. is the Kurdish leader, the prime. minister in Iraq, was attacked by Hadid. 110 drones, which are Iranian stealth. drones. Abbas Aragchi, the foreign. minister, went on X to say, "We didn't. do this. This is a complete false flag.". But clearly it was an Iranian attack. Absolutely. And again, they're so. foolish. Why would you mess with the. Kurds? I would not want to tangle with. the Kurds. Yeah. I thought they just. They seem to be just miscalculating.

left, right, and center. >> Yeah. Absolutely. >> where it goes. General, thanks for. joining us and your time. We. appreciate it. Now this. >> Dave. >> So, now 34 past the hour, President. Trump saying there are no talks with. Iran or any conversations in the works. This comes as the Wall Street Journal. reports that Iran's mounting aggression. in the Strait is pushing the buttons of. the US military. Fox News contributor. Dan Hoffman, former CIA chief of. stations. And Dan, good to see you. Uh. this month alone, UAE reports that seven. ships have been targeted. Um that's.

that's that's higher than zero. And at. one point during this conflict, that. would simply have not been acceptable. What is your read on this to why? >> Well, Iran is trying to drive up the. cost uh for the United States and our. allies. by disrupting trade in the Strait of. Hormuz. And they feel like if they can. impose significant costs on us, that. they can withstand the costs we're. imposing on them through the blockade.

Iran has continued to make maximalist. demands. There are no negotiations going. on because Iran is demanding that we um. uh remove the blockade, that we release. their frozen funds, eliminate sanctions, and stop conducting military activity in. the region. Obviously, the Trump. administration isn't going to do that. I. think what President Trump is doing uh. is asking his intelligence community. whether uh we are pushing Iran to the. breaking point with our economic. pressure. Or whether we are looking at a. long-term economic war of attrition.

>> Okay, so then we go to others in the. region. And others [clears throat] in. the region include Vladimir Putin, all. right? Institute for the Study of War, Jack Keane's group among others, as. Russia has continued to provide direct. military support to Iran through weapons. and weapons components transfers. They're talking about the Caspian Sea in. terms of resupply. What do you think of. that? Or how do you view that? And also, what about the targeting ability of. Iran's military? They have proven to be.

um. actually quite accurate more so than a. lot of people would think. Where does. that come from other than Putin? >> Yeah, so Russia strongly aligned with. China and North Korea and Iran and. Russia's currency is intelligence. They. supply Iran with with satellite. technology satellite intelligence. derived from the human sources as well. so that Iran can more effectively target. our bases in the region. Vladimir Putin. wants the United States to be tied up in.

the Middle East and he wants the oil. prices to continue to go up. That helps. Russia with the extent to which they. they export oil. They'll earn more money. to be able to conduct their war their. barbaric war on Ukraine. >> In the meantime, he's blaming NATO for. what's happening in Kiev, right? And on. and on that rolls. So I mean it's it. seems to be all interconnected and Putin. would have great incentive to keep the. United States. involved in the Strait of Hormuz and. Iran for some time. Move further east.

This may have surprised a lot of people. Here we go again. Here's the headline. President Trump pushes for Kim Jong Un. to have a meeting this year. That's the. headline. I was watching the the Reuters. wire a short time ago. His sister says. that the Trump and Kim relationship is. quote truly excellent. What is your read. on this? What would they have to talk. about and isn't North Korea helping Iran. as well during this conflict? >> North Korea's been an ally of Iran for a.

long time providing Iran with military. technology, missile technology. They're also providing Russia with. artillery and reportedly planning to. send 50,000 troops to augment Russia's. ongoing attacks on on Ukraine. I think we have to be careful not to. conflate whatever personal relationship. the president has with Kim Jong Un with. the fact that North Korea is an ally of. China and Russia and Iran and whose. interests are antithetical to ours in.

the region. We have to be careful about. risking. any appearance of placating Kim Jong-un. so that we can get to the negotiating. table. I think Kim Jong-un is perfectly. happy to sit down with the president of. the United States and be perceived as a. leader in the world who can go. toe-to-toe with with President Trump. But as we saw in 2018, those might result in in in summits, but. they might not result in in real. agreements which would serve our. national security. That's where the.

challenge is. I think that's where the. president needs to be asking Director. CIA Radcliffe whether North Korea is. interested in making a deal. There's no. evidence that they are. They've been. increasing their nuclear arsenal, their. ballistic missile arsenal, and. threatening North South Korea as well as. the United States. >> Okay, third week in September, President. Xi expected at the White House and we'll. see whether or not this. Chairman Kim meeting comes following. that. Thank you, Dan. Good to get your. uh get your perspective on all of that. Dan Hoffman, thanks.

Breaking tonight, President Trump says. negotiations with Iran will resume maybe. at some point. He says the situation. right now is, quote, so good. Fox News. is told the president has asked his team. not to engage until Iran is really ready. to make a deal. The president addressed. technology leaders this afternoon. Correspondent Lucas Tomlinson reports. tonight live from the North Lawn. Good. evening, Lucas. >> Good evening, Bret. President Trump. shifting his focus away from Iran today. to the South Lawn of the White House.

where he showed off the new helipad and. later hosted leaders from the crypto. industry. >> We're ensuring that America remains the. undisputed leader not only in Bitcoin. and crypto, but also technologies like. prediction markets, artificial. intelligence, and much more. >> President Trump hosting crypto. executives at the White House today. pressing Congress to pass new. legislation to help the US stay ahead of. China. The president had Beijing on his. mind when he toured the new White House. helipad this afternoon including signing.

the granite along with construction. workers and members of the military. >> This is going to be used for a lot of. different celebrations. Presidency is. coming in a little while in a couple of. weeks. >> While taking questions from reporters on. Iran, the president downplayed the. Strait of Hormuz which he now calls new. US territory. >> People have found other alternatives. which they never thought about. Texas, Alaska, Louisiana and other places. The. Hormuz Strait's not going to be quite as. important as it was in the past. >> After Iran fired missiles at the United.

Arab Emirates, the UAE says it has. halted all trade and financial. transactions with Iran. >> There is nuisance value when they shoot. a drone every once in a while. >> At least six commercial vessels have. been attacked this month while. transiting the strait including one this. week. US and regional officials say for. now the naval blockade and economic. pressure will continue. It's a question. of who blinks first they say. >> Iran is trying to drive up the cost for. the United States and our allies by.

disrupting trade in the Strait of. Hormuz. >> While Trump says talks with Iran could. resume in the future, the president said. he's also looking to restart talks with. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. >> Are you expecting to meet with him later. this year? >> Yeah, I will be. >> And provided an intelligence estimate on. how many nukes North Korea has. >> He has 57 nuclear powered nuclear. weapons. >> To deal with threats from North Korea. and China right now, the US Navy does. not have an aircraft carrier in the. Pacific. Brett.

>> And Lucas, President Trump was supposed. to levy tariffs on Canada today but. didn't. What happened? >> That's right Brett. The president was. supposed to levy 50% tariffs on Canada. today but today he instituted a. three-day pause because he thinks a deal. is close. >> We've come to a deal with Canada. As you know, the 50% tariffs across the. board were going on against Canada. today. And they called yesterday and they gave. us the points that we had to have. Very. fair deal for both. >> The president also said the Keystone XL.

pipeline might be making a comeback. Brett? >> Lucas Tomlinson live in the North Lawn. Lucas, thanks. >> Be sure to like and subscribe for all. the Fox News latest on YouTube and catch. full shows streaming now on Fox Nation.