Donald Trump’s erratic and contradictory statements on his war with Iran have alarmed the president’s own inner sanctum, as well as annoying Iranian leaders.
Trump, 79, has repeatedly sent mixed messages on the state of the conflict with Iran, which is entering its eighth week.
His comments to reporters and on social media are becoming so problematic that it’s impacting the state of his war, according to a CNN report, which claims that as negotiators appeared close to a deal, Trump launched a media spree.
The president posted on his Truth Social account on Sunday morning about negotiations with Iran, threatening to “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge in Iran” if they didn’t accept a deal on offer from the U.S.
But just days earlier, on Friday afternoon, Trump had told CBS that Iran had “agreed to everything,” including working with the U.S. to remove their enriched uranium. Trump spoke to numerous outlets on Friday about his war, including Bloomberg and Axios.
Trump officials told CNN that the president’s running commentary on the war has been detrimental and has inflamed Iran’s mistrust of the U.S.
“The Iranians didn’t appreciate POTUS negotiating through social media and making it appear as if they had signed off on issues they hadn’t yet agreed to, and ones that aren’t popular with their people back home,” a person familiar with the talks told CNN on Monday.
The source added that Iran is “particularly concerned” about looking weak.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
“The United States has never been closer to a good deal with Iran, unlike the horrible deal made by the Obama Administration, thanks to President Trump’s negotiating ability,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in the CNN report.
“Anyone who cannot see President Trump’s tactics to play the long game are either stupid or willfully ignorant.”
Trump’s media spree has been particularly damaging to talks. On Friday, he discussed the topic of enriched uranium, one of the key sticking points for U.S. negotiations with Iran, and the primary material used to make nuclear bombs.
“Our people, together with the Iranians, are going to work together to go get it. And then we’ll take it to the United States,” Trump told CBS. In interviews on the same day, he told Bloomberg that Iran had agreed to suspend their nuclear program indefinitely and told Axios he expected a deal to end the war to be done “in a day or two.”
Trump was also asked on Friday about claims he’d made that Iran had agreed to hand over their “nuclear dust,” which is the phrase he has used to describe enriched uranium.
“We’re taking it… with Iran,” Trump said. “We’ll take it after the agreement is signed. We would have taken it, if we didn’t have an agreement.”
He then noted if the agreement wasn’t signed, “We will get it in a different form - a much more unfriendly form.”
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei responded in a statement on Friday dismissing Trump’s claims. “Enriched uranium is as sacred to us as Iranian soil and will not be transferred anywhere under any circumstances,” he said, adding that “transferring uranium to the United States has not been an option.”
Additionally, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X on Friday that Trump’s claims were “false.”
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said that last June’s U.S. military strike, known as Operation Midnight Hammer, caused “complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran.”
“Therefore, digging it out will be a long and difficult process,” he added. Trump gave no indication in his post about whether an agreement has been reached since Friday. Instead, he decried, “Fake News CNN, and other corrupt Media Networks and Platforms,” for failing “to give our great aviators the credit they deserve - Always trying to demean and belittle - LOSERS!!!”
Trump has also created confusion about which U.S. officials will be present for a second round of in-person negotiations with Iran in Islamabad that had been scheduled for Monday, as global oil prices continue to skyrocket.
The president told ABC on Sunday that Vice President JD Vance wouldn’t be attending for “security” reasons. Then on Monday Trump told The New York Post the VP was flying to Pakistan, stating “they’re heading over now”. Shortly after, Vance’s motorcade was seen arriving at the White House.
The Washington Post reported Trump’s officials attempted to clean up the mess, stating Vance would now likely leave on Tuesday.
Iran said on Monday that it has no current plans to return to peace talks.
When asked on Monday what happens if the ceasefire with Iran expires on Tuesday as planned, Trump told PBS “then lots of bombs start going off.”
As part of a call with White House correspondent Liz Landers on Monday morning, the president told PBS News that if the ceasefire with Iran expires this week, “then lots of bombs start going off.”
When asked about Iran turning up to planned peace talks, Trump said “I don’t know. I mean, they’re supposed to be there. We agreed to be there, although they say we didn’t. But no, it was set up. And we’ll see whether or not it’s there. If they’re not there, that’s fine too.”
Speaking on Hannity on Fox News on Monday, Leavitt insisted that Trump was “the steady leader our country needs through this entire endeavor” and claimed that due to his “hard-line negotiating style” the U.S. is now “on the brink of a deal” with Iran.
Leavitt claimed the war began because, “President Trump and his negotiating team found the Iranian regime was stringing the USA along” and getting ready to attack U.S. bases in the region.
“President Trump said, ‘Not on my watch’. That is why he ultimately made the decision to launch this operation, that’s what he continues every day to remain focused on the long game to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon and that’s what he will achieve, one way or another,” Leavitt said.
