Donald Trump has been posting a range of sometimes conflicting statements on his social media platform about the conflict with Iran.
Negotiators are said to be exploring a peace process, with Islamabad being discussed as a possible location.
Pakistan reportedly helped arrange a short-lived pause in hostilities between the US and Iran after Trump warned that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’.
However, it remains unclear whether formal talks will actually take place as the deadline for an agreement draws closer. Trump has also rejected claims that he’s being pushed into a quick deal, saying in a phone interview:
“I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
At the same time, pressure has continued to build around the Strait of Hormuz, with disruption again affecting the vital shipping route.
Trump, meanwhile, has used Truth Social to share multiple posts that point in different directions on the war and any potential ceasefire arrangement.
In one message, he suggested the US would send officials to Pakistan for discussions.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations.”
He then argued that the Strait of Hormuz had already been shut down due to US action rather than an Iranian move, writing:
“Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it. They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day!”
He ended that post with a call for an end to the conflict:
“IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!”
In a separate post, Trump also attacked coverage of the situation, describing it as ‘fake news’.
“I’m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well, our Military has been amazing and, if you read the Fake News, like The Failing New York Times, the absolutely horrendous and disgusting Wall Street Journal, or the now almost defunct, fortunately, Washington Post, you would actually think we are losing the War,” he wrote.
A third post saw Trump draw comparisons with earlier conflicts, including World War One and World War Two, as he insisted the Iran war would not drag on.
“Despite World War I lasting 4 years, 3 months, and 14 days, World War II lasting 6 years and 1 day, the Korean War lasting 3 years, 1 month, and 2 days, the Vietnam War lasting 19 years, 5 months, and 29 days, and Iraq lasting 8 years, 8 months, and 28 days, they like to say that I promised 6 weeks to defeat Iran, and actually, from the Military standpoint, it was far faster than that, but I’m not going to let them rush the United States into making a Deal that is not as good as it could have been.”
Trump later escalated his political rhetoric, labelling Democrats as ‘TRAITORS ALL’ and claiming he had ‘built the Greatest Military our Country has ever seen’.