Trump Raises Doubts About Renewed Attacks on Iran, Says a Deal With Tehran Could Happen
Asked after his Reflecting Pool speech whether he was considering striking Iran after the midterms, the president answered "no" — as Iranian negotiators spent a third day in Doha with Qatari mediators.
President Donald Trump raised doubts on Monday about whether he would follow through on a threatened resumption of military strikes against Iran and said a deal with Tehran could happen, Reuters reported in a story read in full by the desk this cycle. Trump in recent weeks had hinted about renewing attacks on Iran after Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, but after his speech at the Washington Reflecting Pool on Monday he indicated he might be thinking otherwise: asked by reporters whether he was considering striking Iran after the midterms, Trump replied, "no."
The talks track is active. Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators aimed at pushing for a deal to end the war, and Trump said on Monday he believed Iran wanted to make a deal and that such an agreement "could happen." Vice President JD Vance reported that there had been "a number of good conversations with the Iranians," adding: "Look, the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. We're going to keep on working at it."
Trump stressed his bottom-line demand that Iran not possess a nuclear weapon. "We're not going to allow Iran ever to have a nuclear weapon, and they understand that. They've understood that and they've said it even recently," he said. "If we allowed Iran to have a nuclear weapon, this country could never function in the same way. The whole world would be a different place." He also insisted the operation was not actually a war because "we've done very little fighting" recently, after sweeping strikes months ago in which some Iranian leaders were killed. Reuters notes the Iran war is a leading cause of the high gasoline prices weighing on voters, and that Trump is under pressure to end the conflict; he talked about Iran in remarks billed as his closing argument ahead of Tuesday's elections.
