US President Donald Trump claims the US has been having “productive” conversations with Iran that have led to “major points of agreement” on “almost all points” for a deal to “end that conflict.”
Asked by reporters before boarding Air Force One to respond to the Iranian foreign ministry’s denial of his description of the talks earlier today, Trump claims that there’s a communication breakdown in Tehran and that those involved in the talks aren’t necessarily able to contact other people in the regime.
Trump says his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner participated in the talks on behalf of the US, insisting that they went “perfectly” and that they took place Sunday and went into the evening.
“If they carry through with that, it’ll end that conflict very substantially. We have very much in mind our partners in the Middle East,” he says.
Trump claims Iran wants to make a deal “very much” and that the US does too.
He says the sides will likely reconvene later today over the phone because it is difficult for Iran’s negotiators to leave the country amid the war.
He says he had approved a Tuesday morning strike on Iran’s “largest electric generating plant” but that Iran then reached out to the US asking to make a deal.
“If it goes well, we’re going to end up settling this. Otherwise, we just keep bombing our little hearts out,” Trump says.
Asked who the US is speaking to if it is the case, as Trump claims, that Iran’s first and second tier leaders have been knocked out, the president says, “We’re dealing with the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader… We have people who are very representative of the country.”
He declines to identify this leader, saying “I don’t want him to be killed.” But he says it is not Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to have been injured in the war’s opening strike that killed his father and was subsequently selected to replace him. “We have not heard from the son… We don’t know if he’s living…[The Iranians] haven’t seen him there either… I don’t consider him really the leader.”
Trump claims the killing of Iran’s leaders in the war thus far has effectively led to “a very serious form of regime change.”
“We’re dealing with some people who I find to be very reasonable, very solid… maybe one of them will be exactly what we’re looking for,” Trump says, expressing his hope that the situation in Iran will develop similarly to how it did in Venezuela where the vice president is engaging with the US after Washington captured its president, Nicolas Maduro.
Pressed to detail the supposed points of agreement from negotiations with Iran, Trump claims Tehran has agreed to “15 points,” including not obtaining a nuclear weapon — something the Islamic Republic has long insisted it does not seek, despite enriching uranium to near weapons-grade. And he says it has agreed not to enrich any uranium — something Iran has long insisted is its right.
“We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon, not even close to it, no nuclear missiles, we want to see peace in the Middle East, we want the nuclear dust,” he says, referring to Iran’s stockpiles of 60%-enriched uranium. He then claims Iran has agreed to hand over that highly enriched material as well. “We want no enrichment. We also want the enriched uranium.”
Asked again about the uranium stockpiles, Trump says that if there is an agreement, “We’re going down and we’ll take it ourselves.”
“If this happens, it’s a great start for Iran to build itself back,” Trump continues. “It’s also great for Israel, and it’s great for the other Middle Eastern countries,” he says, listing Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Trump says the US spoke with Israel about these developments recently and that Jerusalem will be “very happy.”
Asked if his administration is still going to request $200 billion from Congress for the war, Trump responds, “It’s always nice to have.”
“This will be peace for Israel. Longterm peace, guaranteed peace — if this happens. And I can’t guarantee it, but… I think this is something that’s going to happen. Why wouldn’t it happen?”
“They called. I didn’t call. They called,” he says. “They want to make a deal. We are very willing to make a deal. It’s got to be a good deal. And it’s got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons. They’re not going to have nuclear weapons anymore. They’re agreeing to that.”
Iran “wanted to take over the Middle East and they wanted to knock out Israel permanently,” he adds. “If they had a nuclear weapon, they would have been able to… They would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks to a month” if they had not been hit.
“We have a very serious chance of making a deal,” he says. “We are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal… but again I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A firefighter hoses down smoldering rubble as a bulldozer clears debris at a residential building hit in an earlier US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
US President Donald Trump speaks with the media before boarding Air Force One, Monday, March 23, 2026, at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Part of a missile fired from Iran falls in the northern Israeli city of Safed, March 23, 2026 (David Cohen/Flash90)
The scene where vehicles and homes were set on fire following an attack by settlers on the village of Deir al-Hatab, east of Nablus in the West Bank, March 23, 2026. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Children and teens surround debris from a ballistic missile fired from Iran that fell in the settlement of Pedu’el in the West Bank, on March 23, 2026 (Flash90)
A burnt ambulance is seen in Golders Green, London, March 23, 2026 after an antisemitic arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Two men stand near a crater the day after an IDF airstrike targeted the Qasmiyeh Bridge after Israel said it was being used by Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon on March 23, 2026 (Kawnat HAJU / AFP) /
The aftermath of a Hezbollah rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona on March 23, 2026 (Israel Police)
