According to a video from 14:30 on Fox News, on Saturday May 16, 2026, United States President Donald Trump disclosed the details of a direct exchange with Iranian officials in which he told them the United States intended to take possession of Iran’s remaining nuclear material, the Iranians agreed, and Trump then stated that American forces would physically retrieve it themselves rather than allowing Iran to hand it over voluntarily.
The comments were made during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier in Beijing, where Trump had just concluded a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The interview addressed the ongoing military campaign against Iran and the current state of the country’s nuclear programme following US strikes on its facilities.
In his words, President Trump said, “One thing I will make clear right now. They said very specifically, because I deal with them, I said we’re taking the nuclear dust. They said you can have it. I said we’re going to go get it. We’re not going to let you take it. They said we can’t take it. We don’t have the capability of taking it. I said why? They said because it was hit so hard,” he said.
Trump explained that the primary Iranian nuclear facility had been struck with such force that the surrounding granite mountain had collapsed on top of the site, making it physically inaccessible to Iranian personnel.
He said Iranian officials confirmed that only the United States and China had the technical capability to extract what remained.
Despite this, Trump said the physical destruction of the site was not enough from a public relations standpoint and that the United States would still go and retrieve the nuclear material.
He said Space Force had nine cameras in space pointed directly at the site and that any individual approaching it could be identified by their name tag from orbit.
He added that his singular objective remained ensuring Iran could never possess a nuclear weapon….Read_More…