Hosni Mubarak - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Hosni Mubarak Index / People Transcripts David Axelrod ...extraordinary experience, we met with President [Hosni] Mubarak . And Mubarak was in mourning. Hi... ...met with President [Hosni] Mubarak. And Mubarak was in mourning. His twelve-year-ol... ...about your meeting with President Mubarak . Yes. And Mubarak, it struck me—t... ...with President Mubarak. Yes. And Mubarak , it struck me—to me, it was almos... ...took over in a despotic way. Mubarak gone, imprisoned, and then ultimately ... ...that. And it made me think about what Mubarak said, that the Middle East is indeed ... Show more... Tommy Vietor ...phone with [Muhammad Husni al-Sayyid] Mubarak . It was this swelling thing. It's ... ...bit of a false choice. Look, Obama said Mubarak should go. If he hadn't, if Obama sai... ...should go. If he hadn't, if Obama said Mubarak should stay, do we think the peopl... Michael Kassen ...of the Arab Spring to walk away from [Hosni] Mubarak the way we did. It's complicated, thes... Dennis Ross ...Egypt begin, it's eighteen days until [Hosni] Mubarak is gone, eighteen days. So no... ...One of the reasons that they force Mubarak to leave, not us, is because they don'... ...protestors? How much to put pressure on Mubarak ? What were those discussions like? ... ...Biden—all of whom felt in the case of Mubarak , the guy has been a friend of ours fo... ...I remember saying at one point, “ Mubarak is the pharaoh. When the pharao... ...the phone call that Obama has with Mubarak —I'm in the room with him, and I'v... ...point in this phone call was to nudge Mubarak to realize—this is obviously a har... ...in promoting Egypt's well-being.” And Mubarak is basically having none of it. He'... ...there's no need. I know my people.” Mubarak 's saying, “I know my people. This wil... ...I mean, he's handling it very well. And Mubarak just will have none of it. After th... ...say. Because you had a phone call with Mubarak , there are lots of reasons you want t... ...be fine. We aren't the ones who forced Mubarak to leave. It was the Egyptian militar... ...and I would hear, “Look what he did to Mubarak .” It was one of these things tha... ...that sort of a forgone conclusion once Mubarak has left? I don't think it was ... ...I think Assad is going to go the way of Mubarak .” And I said, “I don't think so.” An... Show more... Derek Chollet ...Square, whether or not to support [Hosni] Mubarak or whether to call for his ouster. Wer... ...week. I think it was on that day that Mubarak stepped down. And at that time, ther... ...over the future. So if the judgment was Mubarak is going to go, Assad is going to go... ...Egyptian military regime. So, the post- Mubarak transitional leadership of Egypt wa... ...plus the sense that the US had “thrown Mubarak overboard” by calling for his departur... ...these dots between willingness to see Mubarak go, willingness to work with Morsi... Show more... Michael McFaul ...I want to be honest about it. The day [Hosni] Mubarak fell, we had a giant party in my offic... ...and Egypt and our relationship with Mubarak . Suddenly it just felt—a much-bigge... ...he was leaning in. We did help push out Mubarak , and we used some of the same playboo... ...too. It's eighteen days until Mubarak steps down, and then it's Liby... ...They are negotiating, kind of like Mubarak and the opposition, and trying t... Jeffrey Feltman ...did they think? What did they think [Hosni] Mubarak 's staying power was? What were thei... ...were pretty much, “You've got to get [Hosni] Mubarak to remove Gamal [Mubarak] from th... ...get [Hosni] Mubarak to remove Gamal [ Mubarak ] from the succession line, to say h... ...or the other, but it wasn't “Remove Mubarak .” After about January thirtieth... ...started on January twenty-fifth, and Mubarak leaves on February eleventh? It wa... ...was the Egyptian military that forced Mubarak out. I think that we provided an eas... ...perhaps, to take action, to go to Mubarak , or we attracted the blame ont... ...for those who didn't want to see Mubarak leave, like some of our allies in th... ...in terms of determining the destiny of Mubarak . I just think in the end, w... ...in the Arab world had figured out Mubarak was not going to be able to wait thi... ...relationship that the US had had with Mubarak . No expression of “We appreciate th... ...Egypt watchers, to talk about Mubarak 's departure, a private discussion... ...is signaling to US civil society that Mubarak is going. We didn't even know i... ...for Assad—who was not a friend, unlike Mubarak —to go. And one of the indicators was... ...it was the army. The army overthrew Mubarak , the army overthrew Morsi, and tha... ...probably made a difference, unlike the Mubarak departure—I think that we tipped th... ...his senior advisors what to say about Mubarak , he was getting into more detail. Bu... Show more... Jim Steinberg ...reform in Egypt, a recognition that the [Hosni] Mubarak regime had become disconnected from it... ...appear that the initial instincts of Mubarak and the leadership was to be prett... ...with Egypt, that we felt that Mubarak and his advisors needed to be awar... ...clear that that kind of pressure on Mubarak was not going to work, or not going t... ...kept him in power? It was clear that Mubarak was not—he would say some of the righ... ...more of a personal relationship with Mubarak than the president did, so we felt tha... ...not in government who was somebody that Mubarak was known to trust, and to hav... ...might make a difference in terms of Mubarak 's own assessment; that he would fee... ...to persuade, to counsel, to encourage Mubarak was not bearing fruit. What about th... ...a close and important relationship with Mubarak , and not certainly one could lightl... ...that events actually did unfold with Mubarak stepping down in early February? No... ...on the grounds that ultimately forced Mubarak to get out of the way. Now, he wasn'... ...the president was supportive? Sure. But Mubarak 's position had just become untenable... Show more... John Brennan ...House, with everybody on the phone with President [Hosni] Mubarak or others, and President Obama'... ...those street protests. And he talked to Mubarak several times, and really counsele... ...and really counseled strongly, and led Mubarak to understand what the implication... ...of those protests. Ultimately, Mubarak stepped aside when President Obama sai... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa go to the Transition Transition go to the Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns go to the Asia Rebalance Asia Rebalance go to the Counterterrorism Counterterrorism