RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The following is the transcript of an interview with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on July 26, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: And we\u0027re joined now by the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. Good to have you here in person. Thanks, Margaret. You just heard our polling. The American people support the goals. The stated goals: opening the Strait, ending a nuclear program, stopping Iran\u0027s ability to threaten other countries. But they don\u0027t think that the U.S. is achieving those goals, and 67% want to end the conflict now. What happens if the U.S. decides to cut its losses?AMBASSADOR MIKE WALTZ: Well, I don\u0027t think it should surprise anyone that we want the conflict to end. We wanted this conflict to end since 1979. I think that\u0027s incredibly--[CROSSTALK]AMB. WALTZ: But I can tell you, as a veteran, you know, Afghanistan, Iraq, these wars\u00e2\u0080\u0093 these endless wars, where the policy goals, what were we doing there, drifted so badly. The president has been consistently clear on what our goals are. I think your poll showed that the American people support those goals. Yes, it\u0027s been difficult, but I, for one, am quite thankful that he is taking the difficult right to do the thing that I think historians will look back on and say was the absolute right thing to do to prevent Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon. And sometimes that\u0027s going to be harder than you know, harder than initially planned for. But the president\u0027s laser focused on getting this done and achieving those goals that 78\u00e2\u0080\u0093 70, what 80% of Americans support. And by the way, also important in there, I don\u0027t think anyone else sees a better plan. That--\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, that\u0027s what I wanted to--AMB. WALTZ: --Yeah, that Democrats you know complain--\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.AMB. WALTZ: --criticize, but no one\u0027s coming with a better plan, and the plans in the past administrations have failed.MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so talk to me about what\u0027s happening because after 13 straight days of bombing, there was no bombing Friday, there was no bombing Saturday. Is that to help the diplomacy that was underway in Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?AMB. WALTZ: It\u0027s giving diplomacy some space. It\u0027s giving diplomacy a little bit of time. Of course, the president tried diplomacy last year. He\u0027s tried it this year. He is a president of peace. He is giving diplomacy a chance. We\u0027ll see over the next coming days. But make no mistake, assets\u00e2\u0080\u0093 additional military assets are moving into the region. They should believe the president. The regime should believe the president when he says they\u0027re locked and loaded, and where all options are on the table.MARGARET BRENNAN: So, but just to be\u00e2\u0080\u0093 put a fine point on it, this is a round of discussions just to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with a 30 day pause in the fighting?AMB. WALTZ: No, all conversations are\u00e2\u0080\u0093 are continuing--\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN: With the goal of getting back to--AMB. WALTZ: --this is at the highest levels, all the way down to the technical levels, to do with the nuclear program, to do with the Straits of Hormuz. The diplomacy has not stopped.\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN: But the bombing did. So how long will the bombing stop for to allow for this--\u00a0AMB. WALTZ:\u00a0 Well, to give that\u00e2\u0080\u0093 well, I\u0027m not going to take that option off the table for the president. That\u0027s up to him. Let\u0027s see how these conversations go.MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the president said to--AMB. WALTZ: By the way I have to give Aman some- some credit there. They have been engaging in a helpful way.MARGARET BRENNAN: Oman.AMB. WALTZ: Oman. Yes, I\u0027m sorry.MARGARET BRENNAN: About\u00e2\u0080\u0093 so, President Trump told Axios that he was close to making a decision and considering a massive attack bigger than ever before. That was Thursday. Did he make a decision yet?AMB. WALTZ: I wouldn\u0027t advertise that, Margaret but--MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it\u0027s widely reported there was a big meeting Friday.AMB. WALTZ: There\u00e2\u0080\u0093 there was a meeting Friday, but there\u0027s ongoing meetings. There was a senior--MARGARET BRENNAN: There was no final decision.AMB. WALTZ: Right.\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN: --other than--\u00a0AMB. WALTZ: He\u0027ll\u00e2\u0080\u0093 he\u0027ll make that decision in\u00e2\u0080\u0093 in good time. But I also want to address this nonsense that somehow we don\u0027t have the assets that we need. Not only do we have what we need in theater, there\u0027s more moving into theater.MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, specifically, CBS has reported we cannot sustain the rate at which the United States has expended precision munitions, as we did early in the campaign with Iran. That there is a shortage of interceptors.\u00a0AMB. WALTZ: Yeah, I wish they would also talk about the massive degradation of Iranian munitions--MARGARET BRENNAN: No, but--[CROSSTALK]AMB. WALTZ: --that has far less\u00e2\u0080\u0093 that has far less than what they started with not only in their industrial base but what they have on hand. Number one, but number two--\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN:\u00a0 Yeah.AMB. WALTZ: --what if the president had done nothing and they had built that massive conventional shield--\u00a0MARGARET BRENNAN:\u00a0 Yeah.AMB. WALTZ: --for which they could then hide their breakout behind?MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.AMB. WALTZ: --then we would have been in trouble.MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me take a break because we need to finish this on the other side of it. Stay with us, Ambassador, if you would. We\u0027ll be right back.\u00a0[COMMERCIAL BREAK]MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We return to our conversation with UN Ambassador Mike Waltz. So, Ambassador, Ukraine\u0027s President Zelenskyy is headed to Washington this ...
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