President Trump's Cryptic Remark Raises Eyebrows
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) - A cryptic remark by President Donald Trump before a White House dinner has many wondering what is coming.
Before a dinner Thursday night with military leaders and their spouses, the president held a photo op and made a veiled statement which he refused to clarify.
"You guys know what this (the dinner) represents, maybe it's the calm before the storm," he said.
"What's the storm," he was asked.
"It could be,,,The calm, the calm before the storm," said the president.
When reporters asked if he was referring to Iran or ISIS, the president deflected.
"We have the world's great military people in this room, I will tell you that," he said. "And uh, we're gonna have a great evening, thank you all for coming.
When pressed again about what "the storm" was, President Trump played coy.
"You'll find out," he said. "Thank you everybody."
Ahead of the dinner, President Trump spoke with the military officers, telling them it was imperative that Iran not obtain nuclear weapons.
The president believes there are challenges that America is facing today that should have been takes care of years ago. Declaring the Obama-era pact was not in U.S. interests.
Trump said that Iran has not "lived up" to the spirit of the deal.
"Recently we've had challenges we should have taken care of a long time ago, like North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, ISIS and the revisionist powers that threaten our interests all around the world," said Mr. Trump. "Tremendous progress has been made with respect to ISIS. And I guess the media will be finding out about that over the next short period of time."
Earlier in the day, President Trump and many in the Republican controlled Congress signaled a willingness to consider new legislation banning a gun tool used by the Stephen Paddock who went on a shooting spree at a Las Vegas music festival Sunday night. So-called "bump stocks" turn semi-automatic rifles into fully automatic weapons. Fifty eight people were killed in his rampage, nearly 500 were injured.
House Speaker Paul Ryan thinks Congress should consider the idea.
"Automatic weapons have been outlawed for many many years, this seems to be a way of going around that," he said.
President Trump, when asked his opinion on banning bump stocks, told reporters "We'll be looking into that over the next short period of time."
Opponents of possible regulation say it will only open the door to stricter gun laws.
