Rudy Giuliani insisted Saturday that he is separating his foreign policy views from his role as one of President Trump’s personal lawyers, after being criticized for saying North Korea had released three U.S. prisoners, a claim the White House had to walk back this week.
The comments came during a press briefing at the Iran Freedom Convention for Democracy and Human Rights, after Giuliani was asked if Trump had personally told him his intentions regarding the future of the Iran nuclear deal.
“I don’t mix my role as attorney for him with my foreign policy views,” Giuliani said, noting that Trump has immersed himself with “terrific” foreign policy advisers.
“He knows my views from the time of the campaign,” Giuliani added. “I know his views.”
Still, Giuliani offered a few opinions about global events. When asked about the hostages again, he said, there’s a “good chance” it can happen and said he’s “praying it’ll get done,” but said he’s just “reading the newspapers” to learn what’s happening.
Rudy Giuliani: “I don’t know the status” of the 3 Americans held in North Korea https://t.co/hUcKLwFQnr
— CNN (@CNN) May 5, 2018
He also advocated for a regime change in Iran and suggested in his keynote address at the conference that Trump would pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, which put Iran’s nuclear program on ice in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions.
“What do you think is going to happen to that agreement!” Giuliani said on Saturday. He then pretended to rip apart a piece of paper.
President Trump has railed against the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and indicated that he plans to pull out of it, provided it is not altered. However, European allies though have urged him to remain in the agreement.
Trump has until May 12 to decide whether to continue on with the agreement, seek changes, or abandon it.
