President Donald Trump issued a new overture for peace — alongside an ominous warning to Iran — as negotiations continue over a broader agreement, saying in an interview with Fox News Sunday that the United States could take sweeping military action against major infrastructure if reported ceasefire violations in the Strait of Hormuz persist.
As expected, the president didn’t hold back.
“If the deal isn’t done … I’m going to take out their bridges and their power plants,” he said, before issuing an even sharper warning:
“If they don’t sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up.”
“We’re preparing to hit them harder than any country has ever been hit before because you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon,” he added.
As Fox News reports:
Those remarks came as Trump mocked the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a Truth Social post for staking claim to a Strait of Hormuz “blockade” the U.S. military had already put in place.
“Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it,” Trump wrote. “They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing.
“In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be ‘the tough guy!'”
Notably, Trump told Fox News that there is turmoil in Iran, over control of a country whose multiple layers of leadership had been killed over the past few months of strikes by Israel and the U.S.
The warning comes as U.S. officials prepare to resume diplomatic talks aimed at ending the seven-week conflict.
Trump has characterized the threat as leverage in negotiations, saying the United States is prepared to act if talks fail.
His remarks came after Iran reversed its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ahead of the expiration of a two-week ceasefire.
Tehran cited the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports as a “breach of trust” in its decision to once again place the strategic waterway under what it described as “strict management and control.”
Chief negotiator Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said it is “impossible for others to pass … while we cannot.”
Following the reversal, Iranian gunboats reportedly opened fire on commercial tankers attempting to transit the Strait, forcing at least 13 oil tankers to turn back.
Despite the escalation, U.S. negotiators are scheduled to return to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday to resume talks mediated by Pakistani officials.
Iran continues to demand the lifting of all U.S. sanctions and formal recognition of its sovereignty over the strait as conditions for permanently reopening the waterway.
With the ceasefire nearing its deadline, mediators from Pakistan and Turkey are scrambling to extend it — hoping to buy time before tensions spill back into full-scale conflict.
The clock is ticking.
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