Trump insists Iran 'begging' to make a deal

26th Mar 2026 16:16

(Sharecast News) - US President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday at a cabinet meeting at the White House that Iran was "begging" to make a deal to end the war.

If Iran doesn't agree to a deal, the US will be "their worst nightmare", he said. "We'll just keep blowing them away. Unimpeded, unstopped."

Trump said: "Just so we set the record straight, because I've been watching the Wall Street Journal's fake news and all these stories that get printed like, oh, I want to make a deal. They are begging to make a deal. Not me. They're begging to make a deal.

"And anybody that saw what was happening out there would understand why they want to make a deal."

Trump said the Iranians are "great negotiators" but "lousy fighters".

"And they are begging to work out a deal. I don't know if we'll be able to do that. I don't know if we're willing to do that," he said.

"They should have done that four weeks ago. They should have done that two years ago. Or they should have done it when we first came into office because two years ago they had free rein under Biden, 'Sleepy Joe', worst president in the history of our country."

Earlier on Thursday, an Iranian official told Reuters that the US proposal for ending the war was "one-sided" and "unfair".

"In brief, the proposal ​suggests that Iran would relinquish its ability ‌to ⁠defend itself in exchange for a vague plan to lift sanctions," he said, adding that the proposal ​lacked the ​minimum ⁠requirements for success.

He said there was "still no arrangement for ​negotiations, and no plan for ​talks ⁠appears realistic at this stage", while Turkey and Pakistan were trying to ⁠help "establish ​common ground between Iran ​and the United States and reduce differences".