Transcript: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 26, 2026

The following is the transcript of an interview with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on July 26, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we're joined now by the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. Good to have you here in person. Thanks, Margaret. You just heard our polling. The American people support the goals. The stated goals: opening the Strait, ending a nuclear program, stopping Iran's ability to threaten other countries. But they don't think that the U.S. is achieving those goals, and 67% want to end the conflict now. What happens if the U.S. decides to cut its losses?

AMBASSADOR MIKE WALTZ: Well, I don't think it should surprise anyone that we want the conflict to end. We wanted this conflict to end since 1979. I think that's incredibly--

AMB. WALTZ: But I can tell you, as a veteran, you know, Afghanistan, Iraq, these wars– these endless wars, where the policy goals, what were we doing there, drifted so badly. The president has been consistently clear on what our goals are. I think your poll showed that the American people support those goals. Yes, it's been difficult, but I, for one, am quite thankful that he is taking the difficult right to do the thing that I think historians will look back on and say was the absolute right thing to do to prevent Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon. And sometimes that's going to be harder than you know, harder than initially planned for. But the president's laser focused on getting this done and achieving those goals that 78– 70, what 80% of Americans support. And by the way, also important in there, I don't think anyone else sees a better plan. That--

AMB. WALTZ: --criticize, but no one's coming with a better plan, and the plans in the past administrations have failed.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so talk to me about what's happening because after 13 straight days of bombing, there was no bombing Friday, there was no bombing Saturday. Is that to help the diplomacy that was underway in Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?

AMB. WALTZ: It's giving diplomacy some space. It's giving diplomacy a little bit of time. Of course, the president tried diplomacy last year. He's tried it this year. He is a president of peace. He is giving diplomacy a chance. We'll see over the next coming days. But make no mistake, assets– additional military assets are moving into the region. They should believe the president. The regime should believe the president when he says they're locked and loaded, and where all options are on the table.

MARGA