Hosni Mubarak - Obama Presidency Oral History Hosni Mubarak Index / People Transcripts Colin Kahl ...and elsewhere in Egypt. And, you know, [Hosni] Mubarak government that had lasted thre... ...and facilitate the transition away from Mubarak . I remember traveling with Gates t... ...had the United States basically said to Mubarak , “Look, forget our values; forget wha... Kenneth Roth ...and didn't try to cling on to Hosni Mubarak , Egyptian president at the time. Tha... ...us think back longingly to the days of Mubarak . It is so much worse today—sixt... Ben Rhodes ...in Cairo where first we go to meet with [Hosni] Mubarak . I was still finishing the speech a... ...finishing the speech as he's in with Mubarak , but he's in with the exemplar of th... ...Egyptian government, when he met with Mubarak , about what effect the speech migh... ...the Muslim world because Mecca's here.” Mubarak probably felt this reinforced Egypt'... ...moments I remember—one, he had to call Mubarak in early January of 2011 about a Middl... ...he did mention the protests, and Mubarak said, “Oh, Egypt is not Tunisia. Thes... ...to stop any day now.” You could tell Mubarak had no idea what was actuall... ...want to do that, because obviously Mubarak was our friend, and the rest of it. W... ...[Laughs] “Weather it; wait it out; Mubarak 's our guy,” kind of stuff. And th... ...what they were saying is, “Well, Mubarak is stability, and these people in th... ...this place is unstable is because of Mubarak , not [laughs] because of these people... ...some of it was personal. They knew Mubarak . The Clintons had spent a lot of tim... ...Clintons had spent a lot of time with Mubarak . So some of this was just personal. ... ...this was just personal. I didn't know Husni Mubarak . I could care less if Husni Mubara... ...Husni Mubarak. I could care less if Husni Mubarak was tossed out of power. People lik... ...human beings. They're just subjects of Husni Mubarak who need to get in their place.” Yo... ...coming to the point where he calls on Mubarak to step down, do you think there was a... ...effects, and, “If I break from Mubarak , it's going to infuriate the Israelis... ...frankly, to not break completely from Mubarak ; but that, as you saw, the Egyptian... ...as his envoy to deliver this message to Mubarak where—it was basically, “You can exi... ...when, having received that message, Mubarak was supposed to give this speech wher... ...this speech in the Situation Room. Mubarak comes out, and he tacitly says tha... ...step down.” Because it was clear where Mubarak really was going to go. For Obama... ...decision he had just made to push for Mubarak 's ouster echoing in his confrontatio... ...we were a hundred percent behind Mubarak , I think Mubarak probably would hav... ...hundred percent behind Mubarak, I think Mubarak probably would have stayed in power... Show more... Denis McDonough ...get together to decide, should he call [Hosni] Mubarak to ask him to not send his goons int... ...don't think you should call President Mubarak .” He says, “Okay, I got it.” He says... ...three months, which seems so intense—on Mubarak and then on Libya. I was just lookin... ...Souza photograph of his phone call with Mubarak on February first. I know he wa... ...it was the right call to call on Mubarak to step down? There's the principle... ...an institutionalist. You're talking to Mubarak , you're talking to people around him... ...is almost sequentially right after Mubarak steps down? I remember that ver... ...me, which is when we talked about the Mubarak decision. And how I recognized at tha... Show more... Hillary Clinton ...things had gone backwards. I had known [Hosni] Mubarak since the '90s. He had practicall... ...began to grapple vis-à-vis Mubarak 's position? Yeah, we did. I mean, w... ...there could be a mass massacre. If Mubarak really didn't care how he was viewed a... ...things we had to do was try to persuade Mubarak , number one, not to do that, an... ...an intensive effort to try to persuade Mubarak on those two points. Obviously, th... ...go to Cairo and literally sit down with Mubarak , because I wanted somebody that h... ...consequences of either the toppling of Mubarak without any planning, which would leav... ...he, basically, said we needed to give Mubarak time, we needed to have an orderl... ...They wanted the revolution. They wanted Mubarak to go. The idea of an orderly proces... ...of an orderly process that would leave Mubarak in power was no longer an option fo... ...basically, decided he would say Mubarak has to go. So the president made ... ...with me, and obviously knew Mubarak from way back. I called the sultan, an... ...I asked if he could help us explain to Mubarak that we would support a peaceful bu... ...for the future we envisioned, for Mubarak to go.” So we were back channeling... ...everything we could. All right. So Mubarak goes. And Mubarak tried to maneuver t... ...could. All right. So Mubarak goes. And Mubarak tried to maneuver to put somebody els... ...on the wall, and decided to jettison Mubarak . I believe that from, literally, tha... ...no political infrastructure other than Mubarak 's party and the Muslim Brotherhood. S... ...else. We did our part. We got rid of Mubarak . Now we let somebody else do th... ...did. And here we are. We're back. It's Mubarak 2.0. And he's not as charming, or eve... ...willing to try to appease the West as Mubarak was from time to time. He's straigh... ...question of whether or not to call for Mubarak 's ouster. In your view, why did th... ...divide that believed that pushing for Mubarak 's ouster, calling for it, was a goo... ...important was the president calling for Mubarak 's ouster to that sequence of events... ...significant. We had propped up Mubarak . We had given him all the military ai... ...said, “Please don't do that, because if Mubarak goes, we don't know what happens.... ...were legitimate reasons not to jettison Mubarak without some kind of transition. An... ...all the bad things that would happen if Mubarak was summarily tossed out, and there wa... ...roll the dice and see what happens. Mubarak might very well, and most likely would... ...is influence. It was a big deal. And Mubarak was their partner. And if he wasn'... Show more... Antony Blinken ...with how to respond to protests against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. What were on the minds of th... ...do whatever we could to try to help Mubarak navigate the challenges by advising hi... ...for example, to try to preserve Mubarak in power beyond the advice that we gav... ...being very clear and explicit in saying Mubarak 's time has passed and the people o... ...think, very clear advice and counsel to Mubarak about the need, the urgent need, t... ...minority of the population. And Mubarak was always at best a day late and ... ...was happening in real time. Mubarak would give a major address. We'd b... ...president felt about the outcome about Mubarak 's decision to step down, kind of th... ...best shot in advising and counseling Mubarak on what he could do to have a chance t... Show more... Huma Abedin ...to Sharm el-Sheikh to see President Mubarak a month later. In March, I think. Wha... ...to Sharm el-Sheikh and she met with Hosni Mubarak —and I want to say that was actually i... ...go in. We sit at this long table with Mubarak . Mubarak spoke excellent English... ...We sit at this long table with Mubarak. Mubarak spoke excellent English. Hillary i... ...it? How—? I only knew an Egypt with Mubarak . That's all I knew. So, when I pu... ...to be a peaceful transition, and that Mubarak should just say he's not running fo... ...I could not see what that then meant. Mubarak leaving, to what end? I didn't kno... ...places. I certainly wasn't saying Mubarak 's great, he should stay. I certainl... ...We had, obviously, supported Mubarak . We had supported Ben Ali. So I didn'... ...they were worried about. Under Mubarak , they were protected. We're sitting a... ...the leaders in the Middle East, like Mubarak , for example. The list is actuall... Show more... Jon Favreau ...like [Muhammad] Husni [al-Sayyid] Mubarak or something. Let's do something lik... ...to be as funny. Not enough people know Hosni Mubarak out in the real world.” And he's like... Pete Souza ...on the phone in the Oval Office with [Hosni] Mubarak , and before—not here—urging Mubarak t... ...Mubarak, and before—not here—urging Mubarak to resign. Again, do you recall what'... ...and somebody came running in to say, “ Mubarak is live on CNN right now.” It's th... ...that they piped in live TV to watch Mubarak 's speech. And my recollection was tha... ...that he decided he needed to call Mubarak and have a conversation with him. ... ...Shapiro and Bill, taking notes of what Mubarak is saying. You see Gibbs jus... Show more... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Science Science go to the LGBTQ Policy LGBTQ Policy go to the Immigration Immigration go to the Supreme Court Supreme Court go to the Wartime Presidency Wartime Presidency