Trump Warns Iran Is ‘Negotiating on Fumes,’ Says U.S. May Have to ‘Finish the Job’

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that Iran is running out of leverage in nuclear negotiations, accusing Tehran of trying to delay talks in hopes of outlasting him politically while its military and economy weaken.

Speaking at the White House during his monthly Cabinet meeting, Trump said Iran “very much” wants a deal but has not yet offered terms acceptable to the United States.

“We’re not satisfied with it,” Trump said. “Either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

The president said U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are “doing a good job,” but argued that Iran’s bargaining position has been badly damaged by recent military setbacks.

“Their Navy has gone, as I’ve said a thousand times, and Navy is gone, their air force is gone, everything’s gone, and they’re negotiating on fumes,” Trump said. “Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don’t.”

Trump also said Iran’s economy is in “free fall” and accused the regime of believing it could delay negotiations until after the U.S. midterm elections.

“They thought they were going to outwait me,” Trump said. “I don’t care about the midterms. Very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I’m doing that for the world. I’m not doing it just for us.”

Asked whether a new Iran agreement could be tied to additional countries joining the Abraham Accords, Trump declined to reveal what may be contingent in the negotiations. However, he said the United States could reach a “good deal” now, while warning that a military option could produce what he called a “great deal” — one that would be “nastier” but “foolproof.”

“If it’s not a great deal when I’m making it, because we can make a great deal with this guy right here,” Trump said, pointing toward War Secretary Pete Hegseth. “It’s a lot nastier. Probably wouldn’t go as quickly … but it would be foolproof.”

Trump said negotiations are going “pretty well,” but again criticized the Obama-era Iran nuclear agreement, calling it “the worst deal” and saying it gave Tehran “a path” to quickly obtain a nuclear weapon.

The president also said the United States did not begin with the goal of regime change in Iran. Still, he argued that the losses Tehran has suffered have effectively changed the nature of the regime’s negotiating team.

“We didn’t set out for regime change,” Trump said. “But by the fact that we’re dealing with a totally different group of people than we were at the beginning … This is regime change.”

Trump also issued a direct warning over the Strait of Hormuz, the critical international waterway through which a significant share of the world’s oil traffic passes. He said no nation, including Iran, would be permitted to control it.

“International waters — nobody’s going to control it,” Trump said. “We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it. But nobody’s going to control it.”

Trump said control of the Strait is part of the negotiations and suggested Iran wants a role in managing the passage. He also referenced Oman after Iranian state media reportedly claimed the Gulf nation could help manage ship traffic under a disputed draft framework.

“And Oman will behave just like everybody else,” Trump said. “So we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

The remarks underscored Trump’s central demand: Iran must not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. His comments also reflected a broader strategy of combining diplomacy with overwhelming military pressure — a posture the administration says is necessary to prevent the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism from crossing the nuclear threshold.

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