“They developed it during the Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, during his administration... They didn't escalate anything.”

The escalation happened after the United States left the deal, not during it. The International Atomic Energy Agency verified on July 1, 2019, a year after the withdrawal and the reimposition of sanctions, that Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile exceeded the deal's limit. Iran began breaching the 3.67 percent enrichment and 300 kilogram stockpile limits in 2019, began enriching to 20 percent in January 2021 and to 60 percent in April 2021. By May 17, 2025 it held 408.6 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 percent, an increase of almost 50 percent since February of that year. In the same interview he also said Iran had been very close to a nuclear weapon twice, and tied that to the moment he terminated the deal.

There is a kernel here, and it is the claim's best defence. The Obama White House said that before the agreement Iran's breakout time was only two to three months and that it held a uranium stockpile sufficient for eight to ten nuclear bombs. That describes the period before the deal took effect, during Obama's first term. The same page records what the deal then did: cut the stockpile by 98 percent and cap enrichment at 3.67 percent.