Trump didn't want 'Herbert Hoover' presidency with Iran; said it has to have 'some' missiles

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was motivated to finalize the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to prevent "economic catastrophe" if the war was not resolved soon.

"So rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover, he was always the one I didn't want to be," Trump said of the 31st president whose policies are often blamed for starting the Great Depression.

"I didn't want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened. But all I know is, every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship," Trump said during a press conference Wednesday on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Évian, France.

Trump's comments about the economic impact of making a deal came as he focused the majority of the press conference on the somewhat vague details and timing related to the agreement between the United States and Iran that the U.S. says was signed Wednesday night in France.

The president's lengthy press conference happened at the same time that senior U.S. officials read the agreement aloud to reporters, though the president did not relay specifics of the deal in his remarks. The White House has not published the text of the agreement.

Throughout the press conference, the president toggled between characterizing the deal as "historic" and "strong" but also leaving the door open to future bombing of Iran if the regime didn't properly adhere to the agreement.

"If it doesn't get done in 60 days, it's all right. We go back to bombing. You know, I don't want to do that because it's so good. But, we might have to because we're never going to let them have a nuclear weapon, but they've agreed not to. And you'll see that very clearly in the agreement," Trump said.

Trump also said he was open to allowing Iran to maintain its stockpile of ballistic missiles, claiming it was "unfair" for Iran to not be able to have the weapons if their neighbors do.

Trump suggested that he has a hard time articulating to the Iranians that they cannot have ballistic missiles -- because their Gulf neighbors like Saudi Arabia have them.

"We'll be working on a parallel effort with the Gulf nations to address non-nuclear issues, such as the conventional ballistic missiles," Trump said.

"I mean, they have to have some because other people have some. You've got to have some," Trump went on: "'Sir, you shouldn't let them have any missiles.' I said, 'Well, what am I going to do? I'm going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can't have them?' 'Yes, sir.' It can't -- doesn't work that way," Trump said.

Later on Wednesday, Trump doubled down on his suggestion that Iran could have its ballistic missiles, saying: "If other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for [Iran] not to have some."

"A ballistic missile is not the same thing as what we're talking about when we talk nuclear, but if Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say in relative proportion, I think it's OK. That's what I mean," Trump said.

The president also argued on Wednesday that the memorandum "doesn't have to" have specific terms detailing punishments for Iran if they were to get a nuclear weapon -- that the U.S. would just continue bombing the country if they develop or obtain one.

"Does it have to be?" Trump said, when asked whether there was anything enforceable in the agreement surrounding the nuclear agreements.

"I let him know. I said, 'Look, if you don't adhere to the agreement, I don't want to do that, but we're going to bomb the hell out of you,' and I don't think that they're going to veer from the agreement," Trump went on.

"What else am I going to do? Am I going to say, 'I'm going to take you to court? Let me take you to court. Let me, just let me sue you.' No, we're going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement. I don't want them to. I want them to honor the agreement again. The streets close up, bad things can happen. You're in war, terrible things happen," he said.

And despite his insistence that the memorandum states that Iran cannot develop or obtain a nuclear weapon -- one of his chief concerns during negotiations, Trump also appeared softer during the press conference on Wednesday in his position on whether Iran could develop a nuclear program for civilian purposes in the future.

"I've said to them always, I say, 'Look, you have probably the third-largest oil reserves in the world. What the hell do you need nuclear for?' You need nuclear for some electricity, some. So I've always felt that way. So, we've been pretty tough on that," Trump began, when asked if Iran comes back to the U.S. after the signing of the deal and asks to continue their civilian nuclear program.

He again claimed that Iran could develop the program because neighboring states were also doing so.

"You know, it's also, it is a little hard though when you say that somebody wants---other people have it, other adjoining states have it and you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. It's always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense," Trump added.