President Trump held a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday as negotiations continue with Iran for a peace deal, which Mr. Trump said are proceeding “nicely” though he also suggested attacks may continue if a deal isn’t reached
Mr. Trump said that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and “they want very much to make a deal.”
“So far, they haven’t gotten there, we’re not satisfied with it, but we will be,” he said. “We will be. Either that or we’ll have to just finish the job. Their navy is gone, as I’ve said a thousand times, their navy is gone, their air force is gone, everything’s gone.”
The president also threatened Oman, when asked if he would allow Iran and Oman to manage the Strait of Hormuz in the short term.
“Nobody’s going to control it,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it. But nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody’s going to control it. It’s international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”
Iran, the president said, wanted to wait him out, counting on political pressure from the upcoming midterm elections. But Mr. Trump said the American people understand Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.
“They thought they were going to out wait me, you know,” he said. “‘We’ll out wait him. He’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms. Look what happened last night. That was the prelude to the midterms. People understand it. They know that, very simple, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Earlier in the week, there were plans for the Cabinet meeting to take place at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. But Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday that they would meet at the White House instead, citing “possible bad weather conditions.” Showers and possible thunderstorms were forecast in the Maryland region.
Among the attendees was outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who leaves her post on June 30. Mr. Trump expressed gratitude to Gabbard at the meeting, saying she is a “terrific person” and she had findings that were “pretty good.”
On Monday night, the U.S. targeted Iranian missile sites and boats U.S. Central Command claims were laying mines in what the U.S. described as “self-defense strikes,” but Iran called a “grave violation” of the fragile ceasefire.
The White House official noted at the time that the meeting location at Camp David was contingent on the weather — Mr. Trump usually travels to Camp David by Marine One, but if the weather is bad they could scrap the trip and change the location.
Plans for the Cabinet meeting was first reported by Politico and some details were first in the New York Post.