President Donald Trump Leaves Situation Room and Announces To The World That He Will Be Giving Iran an...
President Donald Trump revealed that fresh negotiations with Iran kicked off on Monday, just days after he aborted what he described as a fully prepared “massive” military strike on the Islamic Republic that had been set for the weekend.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the president made clear that direct appeals from key Gulf allies—and even from Tehran itself—prompted him to stand down the planned operation.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud spoke privately with Trump on Saturday, reinforcing the message that diplomacy still held promise.
“I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, by Qatar, and by Iran,” Trump said when pressed on why he called off the attack.
“We were all set to go,” Trump added, stressing that the operation would have constituted a “massive attack.”
The president recounted his conversation with the Saudi crown prince in straightforward terms: “I said to the crown prince, ‘What would you rather do? Would you rather us do this or not?’”
According to Trump, the response was unambiguous.
“They said we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack, because you don’t know where these attacks lead,” Trump said.
Bin Salman further assured the president that Iran appeared prepared to cut a meaningful agreement.
“They thought that a deal is imminent,” Trump reported, noting that any such arrangement would address both the vital Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.
The administration has long insisted that the strategic waterway—central to global oil shipments and commerce—must remain open and free of any Iranian tolls or interference, while Tehran must be blocked from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Trump remained measured about the prospects for success when talks resume.
He acknowledged the familiar pattern of Iranian mixed signals that have repeatedly undermined past diplomatic efforts.
“A lot of times they’ll say that to me, and then they’ll go out and say we don’t know what he’s talking about,” he observed.
The president declined to impose any artificial deadline on the negotiations but left no doubt about America’s military posture.
“We’re ready to go anytime we want,” he declared.
The decision to cancel the strikes came Saturday night, after what Trump characterized as a framework for a potential peace deal taking shape.
That announcement followed reports that U.S. and Israeli officials had been examining options for targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure.
When asked Sunday whether those energy sites had been part of the planned operation, the president refused to answer.
Tehran, for its part, had already issued stark warnings that any assault on its energy sector would trigger retaliatory strikes against oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Israel.
Those threats underscored the high stakes involved and the potential for rapid regional escalation.
Administration officials have consistently maintained that any return to the negotiating table must be preceded by Iranian acceptance of a cease-fire.
“That’s the basis for any type of negotiation; it starts with a cease-fire, and it has to start with Iran,” a U.S. official told reporters earlier in the week.
Trump’s handling of the crisis reflects a familiar approach: maximum pressure backed by credible military readiness, combined with openness to diplomacy when allies and even adversaries signal genuine interest in de-escalation.
By consulting closely with Gulf partners who would bear the brunt of any wider conflict, the president demonstrated a preference for coordinated strength over unilateral action.
The Saudi crown prince’s personal intervention on Saturday proved decisive in shifting the trajectory from imminent strikes toward renewed talks.
As more discussions unfold, the core American demands remain unchanged.
The Strait of Hormuz must stay free and open. Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon must be permanently closed.
And any serious negotiation process begins only after Tehran commits to a cease-fire.
Trump has made plain that the U.S. military stands prepared to act if those conditions are not met.
For now, the focus shifts to the bargaining table, with the full weight of American power still very much on the table.
Trump Calls for Impeachment of “Outright Fraud” of a Democratic Senator
It appears that President Donald Trump spent at least part of his birthday watching Fox News Channel, as shortly after Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) appeared on Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream to discuss President Trump’s seemingly imminent deal with Iran regarding reopening the Strait of Hormuz and attacked the president, Trump went nuclear in a post on Truth Social.
FoxNews analysis
As background, the president described what might be included in the deal in a post on Truth Social, saying, ” Barack Hussein Obama’s Deal with Iran, the JCPOA, was an easy, beautiful, smooth road to a Nuclear Weapon, which Iran would have had six years ago, and would have used long before now. My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON! In fact, they no longer want a Nuclear Weapon, nor will they have one, either through purchase, development, or any other form of procurement.”
He added, “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL. Our relationship with Iran is a much different and better one than previous Administrations have had. Unlike Obama’s Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in payments to them, including 1.7 Billion Dollars in green, cold cash, no money will exchange hands. At the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust, buried deep under the powerful sunken granite mountains, thanks to our beautiful B-2 Bombers and their brilliant pilots, and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States. We look forward to working with Iran, and the entire Middle East, long into the future. Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly. If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again!”
It was after he posted that commentary on the deal that Sen. Reed appeared on Bream’s program and attacked it, saying, that President Trump’s deal puts America in a “much worse position” than the one ex-President Barack Obama had made with the Iranian state years ago, and that getting out of it was a major mistake.
Doing so, the Senator said, “We are negotiating against a country which is leadership has been eliminated. Now we have even more fanatical leadership who has much more invested and much more to leverage their position… abandoning [Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] was a bad mistake by the president.”
Trump responded just hours later, attacking the Senator and saying, “Senator Jack Reed, a Dumocrat from R.I., lied when stating the the Deal we just made is not as good as the Obama disaster known as the JCPOA. Reed is either an outright fraud, or incompetent.”
FoxNews analysis
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He added, commenting on how terrible the Obama deal was, “The Obuma Deal was a road to a Nuclear weapon for Iran, cash and all, one of the worst and dumbest (hence Dumocrats!) Deals ever made by the U.S. Our Deal is a WALL against Iran ever having a Nuclear weapon, the complete opposite of Obuma.” Concluding by calling for the Senator’s impeachment, he said, “Impeach Jack Reed!”
Trump also sounded off on Benjamin Netanyahu on Truth Social, saying, “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran. Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to was very small and meaningless, nobody was hurt, injured, or killed, and should not disrupt this important process.”
He added, “We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down. There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel. This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace — Let’s not blow it! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
