U.S. President Donald Trump sent mixed signals on negotiations with Iran, saying after expressing dissatisfaction with Tehran’s latest proposal that “maybe it’s better we don’t make a deal at all.”
Trump said talks with Iran had gone on too long and suggested that the absence of an agreement could be the best possible outcome.
Trump: 'You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon'
(Video: Reuters)
“I’m dealing with some quite brutal people right now in the lovely country of Iran... and we're doing very well,” Trump said, reiterating that “you cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon.”
His comments came as U.S. officials weighed Iran’s latest proposal, which people familiar with the matter said marks a shift in Tehran’s position. Under the proposal, Iran would discuss its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz if the United States commits to ending its attacks and the blockade it has imposed on Iranian ports.
Iran had previously demanded that Washington end the blockade as a precondition for talks and agree to end the war before the sides discussed control of the strait and Iran’s nuclear program. Trump, however, is unhappy with the offer and is now considering ending the war without a formal agreement with Tehran, the people said.
Trump also spoke at length about the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the seizure of the TOUSKA, an Iran-linked ship that officials said tried to breach it.
“The ship stopped,” Trump said. “They used tugboats, and then we landed on top of it... and we took over the ship, we took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business. Who would've thought we were doing that? We were like pirates.”
Trump said he was confident oil prices, which rose sharply because of the war, would soon fall.
Meanwhile, tensions between the United States and Germany escalated after the Pentagon announced it would withdraw some 5,000 American troops from Germany over the next six to 12 months.
The move came after Trump sharply criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said this week that “The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating... An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.” Merz also criticized Trump personally, saying the U.S. president had entered the war against Iran with “no strategy.”
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Trump in the Oval Office
(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Trump responded on Truth Social, saying Merz “doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”
“If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage,” Trump wrote. “I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!”
The Pentagon’s planned withdrawal would affect roughly 14% of the 36,000 U.S. service members stationed in Germany. Trump has repeatedly criticized Western Europe for what he describes as insufficient support for the U.S. effort to enforce the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and has said more than once that he is considering withdrawing from NATO.