TRANSCRIPT: Standing Outside The Capitol, Leader Schumer Slams Trump’s Iran Deal: “This Is Not The Art Of The Deal. This Is The Art Of Surrender.”

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) denounced President Trump's disastrous Iran deal as "one of the worst deals" in United States history, as it makes major concessions to Iran and leaves the United States off in a worse position than before the war began. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks:

This is not the art of the deal. This is the art of surrender.

Trump didn't get peace through strength, he got payoff through weakness.

Americans got almost nothing we wanted and needed, and Trump gave away the store. The Iranians took him to the cleaners. Look what they're getting. They got more control of the Strait of Hormuz. They're getting a $300 billion payoff, which we Democrats are not going to vote for. No one should vote for it. This money should be used at home, where it's needed, to reduce people's costs. Not as a payoff to the Iranians. He got, he still has his missiles. The Iranians still have their missiles. The oil prices and gas prices will stay higher for a long time. Basically, Iran got just about everything it wanted, and we got nothing.

So, the bottom line is that this is a fiasco. It's a disaster. Trump proved himself to be a terrible negotiator, and it's obvious why. He never knew why he entered the war to begin with. He never told the American people. He never told the world. And it's probably because he was worried about the Epstein files and his bad record on health care and costs, and he wanted to divert attention. But he had no aim, no goals, and as a result, America and the world suffered from one of the worst deals that Trump has ever put together. One of the worst deals that we've ever seen in United States foreign diplomatic policy.

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Reporter: Senator, on FISA, if Bill Pulte stays in indefinitely, does that mean 702, will be off, indefinitely?

Leader Schumer: Ask the Republicans. Pulte, Trump put in Pulte. Trump put Pulte in. Pulte is a disaster. And it's on the Republicans. They have the presidency. They have the Senate. They have the House, to fix it.

Reporter: Trump just posted that he wants Republicans to terminate the filibuster, saying that "if Republicans don't, Democrats will if they take the majority."

Schumer: Look, the bottom line is again, Trump has made FISA impossible to pass. Talking about the filibuster, talking about the SAVE Act. We're never going to pass the SAVE Act. And Democrats and Republicans know what a bad idea is. So the fact that we don't have FISA, the fact that we have an attack dog who has no concern for reality and facts and truth as the DNI, the temporary DNI, it's all on Trump. All on Trump.

Reporter: The president also posted that the United States is not paying Iran $300 billion. What is your reaction to that?

Schumer: We're not paying for it. I don't know who he's going to get to pay for it, but why the hell should Iran get $300 billion? That's a victory. That's surrender money that Trump gave him because he cut such a lousy deal and put the United States in such a difficult, difficult position.

Reporter: What do you make of the fact that there are a growing number of Senate Republicans who are now criticizing this developing MOU?

Schumer: The bottom line is, first and one other thing, everything ought to be made public. Secret side deals, knowing Trump, those are probably even worse than what he's made public already. So we want everything made public, number one. Number two, the more people look at it, the worse it gets. And so, you have about 20 Republicans, as I've counted, saying this is a lousy deal. It is so bad that even Republicans who cringe and knock their knees before criticizing Trump had no choice but to say what a bad deal.

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