Trump is raising expectations that this time he really will close deal with Iran to wind down war

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump He has long expected this weekend to be a big weekend for his presidency.

World Cup Trump returns to the US on Friday for the first time in 32 years committed to winning the tender It will host a football tournament in its first term. He will be celebrating his 80th birthday on Sunday at UFC fight night. Thousands of people are expected to attend To the White House grounds. Hours after the last game, he is scheduled to board a plane. G7 summit in the French Alps for meetings with many world leaders with whom he debated war and tariffs.

However, Trump further raised expectations for the coming days by announcing on Thursday that the United States and Iran would reach an agreement. we can get along this weekend An agreement that would determine the way to end a three-month war that was unpopular and disruptive among Americans global oil markets. He said he plans to appoint the Vice President J.D. Vance to the signing of the agreement.

Trump has said many times in recent weeks that he is on the brink of a deal that yields nothing. A spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement to state television after Trump’s statements, said that mediators are active, but nothing has been finalized to end the conflict.

Still, Trump claims this time could be different.

This breakthrough came after he threatened to escalate the conflict by bombing Iran more heavily and seizing control of Iran’s oil industry. Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil facility. The president’s threats followed one another back and forth strokes one this week temporary ceasefire This decision, adopted at the beginning of April, had almost no meaning.

“They took a blow that very few people could handle,” Trump said in his meeting with reporters in the Oval Office, explaining why he was confident that a deal would happen this time. “And they want the deal much more than I do.”

Trump offered few details about the deal he said was taking shape, but told reporters he believed in Iran’s supreme leader. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, The man who was thought to have been injured on the first day of the war and has not been seen in public since is ready to sign the agreement.

Trump calls the agreement “very strong” but says it remains “somewhat conceptual” and will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Trump’s escalating threats aim to create a way out

Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group, said that as the conflict intensified last week, Trump’s threat to step up U.S. military action was partly aimed at showing the hawkish wing of his political base that he was willing to play a “tough game” against the Iranians if they did not reach a deal soon.

Trump in March He warned that he would target Iran’s infrastructure and eventually deployed American troops to Kharg Island before backing out and the two countries agreeing to a temporary ceasefire.

Immediately after reiterating the idea on social media on Thursday, Trump appeared to backtrack. He called into a morning show on Fox News Channel and questioned whether Americans had “the stomach” for an option that would require endangering U.S. troops.

Hours later, Trump announced he had decided to rescind orders for “very harsh” strikes against Iran and said a deal was close.

Vaez said mediators from Pakistan, Türkiye and Qatar were making progress in negotiations with Iran as Trump posted on social media Thursday about an increase in attacks.

At the same time, Iran may have reset the equation for Trump with its decision to attack Israel directly for the first time since the ceasefire last weekend, following attacks by Israeli forces on Israel. Military attack on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

With this move, Iran signaled that Israel could no longer bomb Lebanon without facing meaningful repercussion, and in the process also increased the cost of fulfilling its commitment to help protect Israel.

“It seems to me that Trump wants to put an end to this, but his real problem is that he’s looking for a victory lap and an exit ramp, and those two things aren’t necessarily compatible,” Vaez said.

Trump expresses disappointment with war narrative

Trump has boasted since the first weeks of the conflict: he had already won War – Most of the Islamic Republic’s leaders are killed in bombings, and Iran’s navy and air force are severely diminished.

However, Iran continues to protect it effectively. Strait of Hormuz Iran, which closed a waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply passed before the war, has not yet agreed to restart negotiations with the United States due to Iran’s concerns about Iran. nuclear program, The main reason given by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to justify starting the war.

But on Thursday, Trump said the real problem was largely a public relations issue.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said, “They can wave the white flag showing surrender. They can say ‘We surrendered, we surrendered, it’s over, we did it.’ The USA is the greatest power, thank God.” “They could have said it loud and clear. The fake news could have said it was a huge victory for Iran.”

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump is growing impatient with Iran and that renewed attacks and threats against Kharg Island and Iran’s energy sector are aimed at returning negotiations to the “right place.”

Polls show conflict continues It’s not very popular with Americans. McCaul said he believes Iranians want to “try to drag this out as long as they can” around the November midterm elections because they see it as being in their interest.

War will be high on the agenda at next week’s G7

Deal or no deal, the war will feature in talks at the Group of Seven summit in idyllic Evian-les-Bains, France, next week.

Trump frequently criticized some of the group’s leaders – British Prime Minister Keir StarmerFrench President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz – for resisting calls to aid the US and Israeli war effort.

The four leaders also angered Trump by criticizing his handling of the war and his failure to consult with allies before engaging in a conflict that has hurt the global economy as oil prices soar.

But Trump said he was optimistic an agreement could be reached before his meetings with leaders in France.

“The Bosphorus will be officially opened as soon as we sign it, this will be very soon, very soon, maybe by the weekend in Europe,” Trump said.