U.S. President Donald Trump has set a one-week deadline for reaching a deal with Iran to end the war and resolve the Strait of Hormuz crisis, Fox News host Bret Baier said Wednesday.
Baier said he spoke with Trump by phone shortly before reporting the comments on air.
“He is optimistic about this deal, this memorandum of understanding,” Baier said. “He thinks it’s going to lead to things. He’s cautiously optimistic. I asked him what the timeframe would be, and he puts it at a week, getting everything wrapped up.”
The remarks come amid intensive contacts between Washington and Tehran over a possible framework agreement to end the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The emerging deal is expected to serve as a basis for broader negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and regional security issues.
Trump has alternated between optimism and threats in recent days, saying Iran’s enriched uranium would be sent to the United States under the emerging arrangement, while warning that bombing would resume at greater intensity if Tehran rejects the deal.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said Wednesday that it fired on an Iranian-flagged tanker that attempted to sail to a port in Iran in violation of the American blockade.
U.S. Central Command said the vessel, the M/T Hasna, tried to break the blockade and failed to comply with warnings. U.S. forces fired a 20 mm cannon from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, disabling the tanker’s steering system.
“The U.S. blockade against vessels attempting to enter or leave ports in Iran remains in effect,” CENTCOM said.
The incident came as Trump defended the war with Iran at a Military Mother’s Day event at the White House, calling the fighting a “skirmish” and saying the United States was “doing unbelievably well.”
“We’re doing very well in Iran. It’s going very smoothly, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “They want to make a deal, they want to negotiate. And I think that military mothers would want to hear that.”
Trump spoke after first lady Melania Trump referred to the 13 U.S. service members killed in the war, saying she often thinks about “the brave people who make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.”
First published: 20:46, 05.06.26