Transcript: Rep. Mike Turner on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan"

The following is the transcript of the interview with GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on April 12, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re back now with Republican Congressman Mike Turner. Thank you for coming back to town early to talk to us in person. 

REP. MIKE TURNER: Thank you. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let’s start on our polling, because you, like many people right now, are running for re-election.

REP. TURNER: Right 

MARGARET BRENNAN: You look at these- this poll, 64% of the American people disapprove of the war. 62% say the President has no clear plan. There are these negative perceptions of the president’s handling of the economy and inflation. Dayton isn’t immune. Gas prices up a buck from where they were same time last year. How are you explaining to people in your district that this war is worth it?

REP. TURNER: Well, first off, no- no conflict ever polls well. I mean, when there’s a conflict occurring, no one says it’s being handled well, because you have to go through the conflict. The president has articulated, I think, very well, that this is about ensuring that Iran does not become a nuclear state. And no one is willing to trade lower gas prices for Iran becoming a nuclear state. And when Vice President Vance stood at the podium and said that the negotiations had broken off because Iran was not willing to declare that they would not become a nuclear state. That should have sent a chill, both through Europe and around the world. And I think you know for everyone, because that truly is what this is- is about. That- that puts away what you know, what Senator Warner was trying to dismissively say, that this was not an imminent threat, and what everyone else has been saying in Europe and around the world– 

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well the president says its an ambition. 

REP. TURNER: But that- that- that this is a an immediate, the IAEA, Grossi the director, had said they were weeks away from having enough material to have a nuclear bomb–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –He said there was no evidence that they were pursuing a nuclear weapon, he couldn’t rule it out. 

REP. TURNER: –he said- they were weeks- they were weeks away. And- and now you have it. No longer can people say that they did not- did not have the ambition. Here they are all the way at the table. They have been in this- this massive conflict, and they’re unwilling to say they’re not going to pursue–

(CROSSTALK STARTS)

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, and the American people in our polling–

REP TURNER: –they’re unwilling to pursue the nuclear weapon–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –are for preventing that. However, the negotiation itself is proof of the fact that militarily, you cannot achieve destruction of nuclear ambition. Is it not? 

REP. TURNER: No, it’s not, because they’re still ongoing, and- and the President has–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — What’s ongoing?

REP TURNER: That this- this- this conflict, this- this act, the negotiations. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: The president said the war’s won. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: –He said there was no evidence that they were pursuing a nuclear weapon, he couldn’t rule it out. 

REP. TURNER: This is- this is not over. And as it’s not over, Iran is going to have to come the realization as- as- remember the JCPOA, the original enrichment deal that Obama had negotiated, where he said, we’re not going to allow them to have a nuclear weapon, but we’re just going to watch–

MARGARET BRENNAN: And they didn’t have a nuclear weapon. And they don’t have a nuclear weapon now. 

REP. TURNER: –and we’re gonna watch- and we’re going to watch them enrich until they get close enough, and then we’ll take military action. Europe- everyone was a party to this deal. This is not just–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — But the president’s saying they still won’t agree to not get a nuclear weapon and he can’t stop them–  

REP. TURNER: –this is not just a United States issue, as we saw during this conflict where Iran in their missile technology sent a missile all the way to Diego Garcia. This was a wake up call for Europe. They now have missile technology that can reach Europe. This is a regime, a terrorist regime, that we cannot allow to have a nuclear weapon

(CROSSTALK ENDS)