abby, the president speaking to nbc tonight and seemingly simultaneously promising the possibility of military action but also saying he wants to talk. >> well, jim, the tough talk from president trump is back from president trump in this interview with nbc news. even as he explains his decision to hold off on that attack on iran that was expected last night, the president is also saying that he wants to talk and if iran doesn't want to talk and wants to threaten the united states instead, that there could be consequences. listen. >> i'm not looking for war and if there is there will be obliteration like you've never seen before. you can't have a nuclear weapon. you want to talk, good. otherwise you'll have a bad economy for the next three years. >> any preconditions? >> not as far as i'm concerned. >> the president is using a similar strategy with iran he has tried to use in other parts of the world, notably north korea.