President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he was not yet ready to negotiate an end to the war with Iran, even as he suggested that Tehran may be open to discussing a ceasefire. Speaking to NBC News, Trump said the conditions for a deal had not been met. “The terms aren’t good enough yet,” he remarked, adding that any agreement would need to be “very solid”.
Although he declined to elaborate on what those terms might include, Trump indicated that a central requirement would be Iran's permanent abandonment of its nuclear ambitions. For now, however, he signalled that the war was likely to continue.
In keeping with his characteristically flippant rhetoric, Trump also suggested that the US might strike Iran’s critical Kharg Island oil export hub again, remarking that Washington could do so “just for fun”. The island, which handles a major share of Iran’s oil exports, has already been hit during the current conflict.
Trump claimed that earlier American strikes had “totally demolished” and “decimated” parts of the facility. Yet he added that US forces had deliberately avoided destroying the island’s key energy infrastructure. Rebuilding those systems, he noted, could take years, implying that Washington was deliberately calibrating the level of destruction.
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The president also raised questions about the condition of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who assumed power after the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the opening phase of the conflict. Trump said he was unsure whether the younger Khamenei was even alive, pointing out that he had not appeared publicly since taking office.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth went further, suggesting that the new supreme leader might have been wounded during the early US strikes that killed his father. According to Hegseth, Mojtaba Khamenei could be “on the run”, possibly injured or disfigured, though no independent confirmation has emerged.
Despite such speculation about Iran’s leadership, Trump made clear that he does not expect the conflict to end soon. He said he had been surprised by Tehran’s response to the initial strikes, particularly its decision to retaliate by targeting countries across the Middle East.
“That was the biggest surprise,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s attacks on regional targets. Nonetheless, he insisted that the United States currently holds the advantage. “We’re winning the war by a lot,” he declared.
A major source of tension remains the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow maritime passage through which a large share of the world’s oil supply normally flows. With the waterway now a focal point of the conflict, Trump has urged several major powers to deploy naval forces to secure it. He specifically named China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, calling on them to contribute warships to protect shipping lanes. According to Trump, these countries should “take care of that passage”, while the United States coordinates what he described as a broader international effort to clear mines and ensure safe navigation.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have rejected suggestions that the strait has been fully closed. Instead, they say the restrictions apply only to tankers and vessels belonging to “enemy” countries and their allies. Tehran has also warned that American ships are not permitted to enter the Gulf.
Since the launch of the joint US-Israeli military campaign, the administration’s messaging about the conflict has often appeared inconsistent. Trump has previously demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, yet his explanation of what that means has remained vague. At one point, he suggested it simply referred to the moment when Iran can no longer continue fighting.
His estimates of how long the war might last have also shifted repeatedly. Earlier, Trump predicted that the campaign could be concluded within four to five weeks. More recently, however, he brushed aside questions about a timeline, saying the conflict would last “whatever it takes”.
Confusion has also surrounded the administration’s description of the war’s current phase. On one occasion, Trump told reporters that the operation was “very complete, pretty much”, adding that US forces were “far ahead of schedule”. Yet on the same day, he warned that American strikes could intensify and that the military was prepared to “go further”.
When journalists pressed him on the contradiction between those remarks and Hegseth’s warning of a severe new phase involving heavy gravity bombs, Trump replied cryptically: “I think you could say both.”
Another controversy erupted when Trump claimed that a strike on an Iranian girls’ elementary school had been carried out by Iran itself because of “inaccurate” munitions. Video footage circulating online appeared instead to show what analysts identified as a US Tomahawk cruise missile. The assertion appeared to catch his own officials off guard. Hegseth said the incident was under investigation, declining to confirm the president’s claim.
Beyond the battlefield, the war is already producing far-reaching economic and political consequences. Energy markets have reacted sharply, pushing global oil prices higher and driving up fuel costs in the United States. The surge has unsettled voters as the country approaches the November midterm elections, with many expressing concern about rising living costs. Trump, however, has dismissed those worries. He insisted that petrol prices will soon fall and said he was “not concerned at all” about the political fallout.
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In an attempt to stabilise the market, the administration temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil exports, a move that drew criticism from several governments. Trump also rejected an offer from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to share Kyiv’s experience in intercepting Iranian drones, saying Ukraine was “the last person we need help from”. Instead, he urged Zelensky to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At home, the conflict has intensified tensions between the administration and the media. FCC chairman Brendan Carr warned that broadcasters critical of the war could face the revocation of their licences, accusing some outlets of spreading “hoaxes and news distortions”.
Hegseth also urged journalists to produce more “patriotic” coverage of the conflict, calling for headlines that reflected what he described as the country’s successes on the battlefield. The remarks have alarmed free speech advocates, who see them as a troubling attempt by the government to pressure the press during wartime.