Trump is raising expectations that this time he really will close deal
with Iran to wind down war
[June 12, 2026]
By AAMER MADHANI, FARNOUSH AMIRI and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has long been looking for this
weekend to be a big one for his presidency.
The World Cup returns to the U.S. on Friday for the first time in 32
years after Trump threw himself into winning the bid to co-host the
soccer tourney during his first term. He’ll be feted Sunday, his 80th
birthday, during a UFC fight night that’s expected to draw thousands to
the White House grounds. Hours after the final bout, he’s scheduled to
jet off to the G7 summit in the French Alps for talks with several world
leaders he’s been beefing with over war and tariffs.
But Trump set expectations even higher for the coming days when he
announced Thursday that the U.S. and Iran could come to terms this
weekend on an agreement that would set the pathway to end the
three-month-old war that's been broadly unpopular with Americans and has
rattled global oil markets. He said he plans to dispatch Vice President
JD Vance to the signing of the agreement.
Trump has said on several occasions in recent weeks that he's on the
cusp of a deal without anything coming to fruition. A spokesperson for
Iran’s Foreign Ministry told state television following Trump's comments
that mediators were active but nothing had been finalized to end the
conflict.
Still, Trump is claiming this time might be different.
The breakthrough comes after he threatened to escalate the conflict with
more intense bombardment of Iran and by seizing control of Iran’s oil
industry, including capturing Iran's vital Kharg Island oil facility.
The president's threats followed back-and-forth strikes this week that
had rendered a temporary ceasefire agreed to in early April all but
meaningless.
“They’ve taken a pounding like very few people could take," Trump said
in an Oval Office exchange with reporters as he explained why he was
confident that, this time, a deal would come through. "And they want to
make the deal a lot more than I do.”
Trump offered scant details about the settlement he says is taking
shape, but told reporters that he believed the Iranian supreme leader,
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to have been wounded on the
first day of the war and has not been seen in public since, is ready to
sign off on the deal.
Trump is billing the deal as “very strong," though he says it remains “a
little conceptual," and says it would ensure Iran is blocked from ever
developing a nuclear weapon.
Trump's heightened threats are aimed at creating an off-ramp
With the conflict intensifying over the past week, Trump’s threat to
escalate U.S. military action seemed in part aimed at demonstrating to
the hawkish flank of his political base that he was willing to play
“hardball” with the Iranians if they didn't come to a deal soon, said
Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group.
Trump in March warned he would target Iran’s infrastructure and put
American troops on Kharg Island before he ultimately backed down, and
the two countries agreed to the temporary ceasefire.
Almost immediately after raising the idea again on social media
Thursday, Trump appeared to back away. He called into a morning show on
Fox News Channel and questioned whether Americans had the “stomach" for
an option that would require putting U.S. troops in harm's way.
Hours later, Trump announced he had decided to cancel orders for “very
hard” strikes on Iran and said a deal was close.
Vaez said even as Trump was posting on social media Thursday about
escalating strikes, mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar had been
making progress in their talks with Iran.
At the same time, Iran also may have reset the equation for Trump with
its decision last weekend to attack Israel directly for the first time
since the ceasefire after Israeli forces carried out military strikes on
Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
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President Donald Trump is pictured during an event where he signs a
proclamation about the fishing industry, in the Oval Office of the
White House, Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
With the move, Iran signaled that Israel could no longer bomb
Lebanon without facing a meaningful reaction and in the process also
raised the cost for the U.S. to follow through on its commitment to
help safeguard Israel.
“It really does appear to me that Trump wants to bring this to an
end, but his real challenge is that he’s looking for a victory lap
and an exit ramp and those two things are not necessarily
compatible,” Vaez said.
Trump expresses frustration with war narrative
Trump has been boasting since the early weeks of the conflict that
he'd already won the war — much of the Islamic Republic's leadership
has been killed in the bombings and the Iranian navy and air force
have been severely degraded.
But Iran continues to effectively keep the Strait of Hormuz closed,
choking a waterway through which about 20% of the world's oil supply
passed before the war, and has yet to agree to restart negotiations
with the U.S. over its concerns about Iran's nuclear program, the
main reason Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave
to justify launching the war.
But the real problem, Trump grumbled Thursday, was largely a public
relations issue.
"They could wave the white flag of surrender. They could say: ‘We
surrender, we surrender, we’re finished, we’ve had it. The United
States is the greatest power, praise be to Allah,’" Trump said on
Fox News. “They could say it loud and clear. And the fake news would
say it was a great victory for Iran.”
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a former chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, said Trump has grown impatient with Iran and the
renewed strikes and threats on Kharg Island and Iran's energy sector
were intended to get the negotiations back to the “right place.”
Polls show that the conflict is largely unpopular with Americans.
McCaul said he believes the Iranians want to “try to drag this out
as long as they can,” closer to the midterm elections in November,
because they see that as being to their benefit.
War will be high on agenda at next week's G7
Deal or no deal, the war will loom large during next week's talks at
the Group of Seven summit in bucolic Évian-les-Bains, France.
Trump has frequently criticized some of the group leaders — British
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron,
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz — for resisting his calls to aid the U.S. and Israeli
war effort.
The four leaders have also angered Trump by criticizing how he's
gone about executing the war and his lack of consultation with
allies before jumping into a conflict that's hurt the global economy
as oil prices have surged.
But Trump said he is optimistic he could have an agreement before
his talks with leaders in France.
“The strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be
soon, very soon — maybe over the weekend in Europe,” Trump said.
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