roll the tape

Trump denies he's willing to meet with Iran with 'no conditions.' Watch Trump and his top aides say just that.

September 16, 2019

.polaris__post-meta--date { display: none; } .polaris__post-meta--date.no-script { display: block; padding-left: 45px } September 16, 2019

Mike Pompeo and Steven Mnuchin meet the press

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

"The Fake News is saying that I am willing to meet with Iran, 'No Conditions,'" President Trump tweeted Sunday night. "That is an incorrect statement (as usual!)." Where would the news media get such an idea?

YOUR CABINET HAS BEEN SAYING PUBLICLY FOR MONTHS THAT YOU WILL MEET WITH IRAN WITH NO CONDITONS. It’s really impossible to over exaggerate the dangerous, infantile incoherence of our foreign policy right now. https://t.co/OW5qV241Ia
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) September 16, 2019

Here, for example, are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saying Trump is willing to meet with Iran with no preconditions just last week.

Here’s video of Pompeo and Mnuchin saying what Trump just called “fake news” — that he would meet with Iran without conditions. In light of the bombing of Saudi oil facilities, Trump is pretending they didn’t say this and blaming the media. pic.twitter.com/PX9gbwLBiZ
— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) September 15, 2019

Well, maybe Pompeo and Mnuchin just misunderstood Trump? Here's Trump in June.

Here's Trump saying "no preconditions" for meeting with Iran in a June interview with NBC https://t.co/qhXuFMFs29 pic.twitter.com/MYjpNBHKbq
— jordan (@JordanUhl) September 16, 2019

And last year:

President Trump says a meeting with Iran’s President Rouhani could happen with “no preconditions.” Your thoughts? pic.twitter.com/VmJmP3fQv1
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) July 31, 2018

Assuming there isn't some esoteric difference between "no conditions" and "no preconditions," it appears that the "incorrect statement" came from the president himself. Add any parenthetical accentuation you see fit.