‘We don’t need a deal’ - Trump tells Vance to turn his focus away from Iran

United States President Donald Trump has signaled a sharp shift in his administration’s diplomatic posture toward Tehran, announcing on social media that Washington does not need an agreement with Iran and instructing Vice President JD Vance to pivot away from leading negotiations.

"We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed! We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!" Trump wrote, referring to frozen Iranian assets and U.S. naval control over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 The directive follows quiet diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran aimed at averting a renewed escalation into full-scale conflict.


The reassignment also distances Vance from stalled negotiations after the vice president publicly attributed recent Republican midterm election losses to voter dissatisfaction over the war with Iran, a conflict Trump agreed carried political costs, though he maintained the military intervention was justified to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.


Later in the day, during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump offered a more hawkish assessment of the standoff. While reiterating earlier remarks that immediate military action was unnecessary because U.S. forces maintain control over the Persian Gulf waterway, he stated he would not hesitate to resume strikes if conditions deteriorated.

 

"We control the Gulf in terms of the Hormuz Strait. We control it, totally control it. But the answer is, if I saw things going the other way, I would do that. And it’s possible I would do it right now," Trump said, adding that he would view leaving office with Iran's current leadership remaining in power as a defeat.