Trunp: "We are very intent on making a deal with Iran"

[dalton99a]

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/trump-iran-war-power-plants-energy-infrastructure-middle-east.html

Trump tells CNBC ‘we are very intent on making a deal’ with Iran
Published Mon, Mar 23 20267:32 AM EDT
Sam Meredith

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday that, following talks with Iranian authorities, he ordered the U.S. military to postpone strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.

He told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a phone call shortly after the post that “we are very intent on making a deal with Iran.”

However, Iranian state media, citing an unnamed “senior security official” in a post on Telegram disputed Trump’s description of conversations, saying direct or indirect talks have not taken place between Washington and Tehran.

“There is been no negotiation and there is no negotiation, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war conditions nor will there be peace in the energy markets,” state media reported the official as saying.

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In other words, "Please don't destroy the desalination plants."

(If Trump turns off the power in Iran, Iran will turn off the water in Arab countries)

[spanone]

1. he's juicing the stock market

[Dave Bowman]

2. A deal? Really? 🙄

[leftstreet]

3. Insider trading positioning - new word for "deal"

[Botany]

4. 25th amendment time. Grammar much Donny?

“There is been no negotiation and there is no negotiation, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war conditions nor will there be peace in the energy markets,”

[walkingman]

5. I hate to call people names but I must say.....What a fucking idiot. ☮

[Blues Heron]

6. Deals are best made before you assassinate the leader and his family. Taco has bit off more than he can chew here

[dalton99a]

7. +1. There is no reason to believe Iran is talking to him.

[samsingh]

8. because they seem to have shown him his weaknesses. Iran seems to be winning this war on some key paramaters

[BeyondGeography]

9. Gee, it almost sounds as if Trump is full of shit

[Resistance1]

10. Hold up, wait a minute!!

He said he killed off 3-4 levels of Iran's leadership. Who is he negotiating with?
SPOILER ALERT: News is breaking that Iran Foreign Ministry said that no such negotiations are taking place.

[dalton99a]

11. John Barron and David Dennison

[kacekwl]

12. I believe there was a deal

before you graced us with your greatness sir.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. MaddowBlog-Pointing to talks that might not exist, Trump's Iran rhetoric becomes even more incoherent

The president celebrated the progress of diplomatic talks with Iran. Whether those negotiations have actually happened is an open question.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pointing-to-talks-that-might-not-exist-trumps-iran-rhetoric-becomes-even-more-incoherent

The Republican’s erratic approach to the issue took an even more bizarre turn in recent days, starting with an online statement, published to Trump’s social media platform on Saturday morning that read, “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”

It was a jarring announcement for a variety of reasons. On the one hand, the American president was talking about winding down the war and declaring a military victory, all while expressing relative indifference to the Strait of Hormuz. On the other hand, Trump was also prepared to target civilian energy supplies — according to many, a war crime — as early as Monday night unless Iran reopened the strait, which remains a waterway the Republican recently described as being “in great shape” and safe enough for ships to pass through. (The day before issuing the 48-hour deadline, he also told reporters, “You know, at a certain point, it’ll open itself.”)

On the other hand, Trump also wasted little time in abandoning his own deadline for the most dubious of reasons. MS NOW reported:

As the Iran war enters its fourth week, President Donald Trump on Monday announced that the United States has engaged in diplomatic talks with Iran and is taking a five-day pause on strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.

‘I am pleased to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,’ Trump wrote in an all-caps message posted to Truth Social.

As part of the statement, the Republican added that he has directed the Pentagon to “postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period” because the talks with Iranian officials have been so “constructive.”.....

So when a reporter asked the president on Monday morning which Iranian leader U.S. officials have spoken to, he refused to say. At an event soon after, he struggled to explain when, exactly, these alleged negotiations began. (He also hasn’t explained why his administration would talk at all to a country he expects an “unconditional surrender” from.)

Gerard Baker, a conservative member of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, wrote via social media on Monday morning, “The unsettling reality is that with this president, Americans in wartime are in the unprecedented position of having to suspect that the enemy’s version of events is more likely to be true than our own. We have become Baghdad Bob.”

Trump’s incoherence on the war was already a problem. As the fourth week of the conflict begins, it appears that problem is getting worse.