"We don't need a deal with Iran," US President Donald Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. "Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" he added, referring to the Strait of Hormuz.
In the same post, Trump said he had instructed Vice President JD Vance to devote his "complete and total attention" to corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled states, a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that the president had authorized Vance to lead negotiations with Tehran.
Trump lashed out at Democratic strongholds, including Minnesota, California and Illinois, describing them as poorly governed and corrupt. He claimed that billions of dollars were being stolen every month and argued that tackling the alleged corruption would make it possible to balance the federal budget quickly. He also accused Democratic leaders of being inherently corrupt.
The president's remarks come against the backdrop of his party's defeat in the November 3 midterm elections, when public opinion turned against him amid concerns over the high cost of living, which many Americans blame on the war with Iran. Vance, regarded as one of the administration's leading skeptics of the war, himself blamed its consequences for the Democrats' electoral victories.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump has told senior administration officials in recent days that he is open to Vance resuming contacts with Tehran and has authorized him to conduct negotiations. Last month, Vance sent Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, a letter requesting a meeting. Sources familiar with the discussions said the meeting could take place in Doha, Qatar.
The newspaper reported that the administration is divided over whether to resume talks or maintain the naval blockade and sanctions until Tehran gives in. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the new White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, favor the latter approach. "The economic campaign and the pressure and the devastation that our economic campaign is having on the Iranian regime is working so well that the President really doesn't have any need to conduct major combat operations," Rubio said Tuesday.
Rezaei, for his part, denies that any negotiations are taking place. "Stop spreading fake news about imaginary talks," he wrote on X this week. On Wednesday, he told the Lebanese television network Al Mayadeen that reports of negotiations and meetings in Qatar were "lies and fabrications."
In the same interview, Rezaei made clear that Iran would not agree to transfer its enriched nuclear material abroad. "We will not remove a single atom of enriched nuclear material from Iran," he said.
