President Donald Trump, speaking on Fox News, began to make a pointed remark about former President Barack Obama’s approach to Iran before abruptly cutting himself off and saying he would “leave that for another time.”
President Donald Trump used a Fox News appearance to argue that successive U.S. presidents had allowed Iran to grow stronger, singling out former President Barack Obama as “the worst of all” before stopping mid-thought.
Trump said that, over “47 years,” presidents had been “tapped along” and failed to act as Iran became “more and more powerful.” He then criticized specific predecessors, saying, “Clinton let them go and Bush let them go. Everybody let them go.”
Turning to Obama, Trump said, “Obama was the worst of all because Obama actually went to their side.” He then began another sentence—“Obama, because, you know, he’s a —”—but cut himself off, adding: “Well, let’s not say. Let’s not say. Let’s leave that for another time.”
In the same discussion, Trump referenced the Obama administration’s 2016 settlement with Iran totaling $1.7 billion—$400 million in principal plus $1.3 billion in interest—arising from a long-running international claims dispute dating back to pre-1979 arms purchases. The settlement was announced on Jan. 17, 2016, the same day the U.S. and Iran disclosed a prisoner release agreement involving several Americans detained in Iran.
Critics—including Trump and other Republicans—have described the timing and the use of foreign currency as resembling a ransom payment. The Obama administration and outside analysts said the money was part of a legal settlement and noted that U.S. sanctions and banking restrictions made it difficult to move funds to Iran through normal financial channels.
Commentary surrounding Obama’s broader Middle East approach—including debate over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reactions to Obama’s June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo—has long been a feature of partisan arguments about U.S. policy toward Iran.
