President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis listen. | Evan Vucci/AP Trump freshly hints at fully pulling out of Iran deal

President Donald Trump said Monday that he decertified Iran’s compliance with a landmark nuclear agreement because he is “tired of being taken advantage of,” while also hinting that the U.S. could still fully pull out of the deal.

"I feel strongly about what I did. I'm tired of being taken advantage of as a nation,” the president said Monday during a meeting with his Cabinet. "This nation has been taken advantage of for many, many years, for many decades, frankly, and I'm tired of watching it."


Trump announced his move to decertify Iranian compliance with the landmark 2015 nuclear deal on Friday, triggering legislation that gives Congress 60 days to decide whether or not to reimpose certain sanctions that had been lifted under the agreement. Trump has lambasted the nuclear deal, negotiated by former President Barack Obama along with the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany, as "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into."

The president said Monday that he is waiting for “phase two” of the deal, one that will either improve it or prompt him to withdraw the U.S. entirely. Of the latter option, the president said, "some would say that’s a greater possibility."

"We’ll see what phase two is. Phase two might be positive. It might be very negative. Might be a total termination," the president said. "That’s a very real possibility. Some would say that’s a greater possibility. But it also could turn out to be very positive. We’ll see what happens."