Trump says 'good chance' of Iran deal, warns of return to military strikes if talks fail

Donald Trump said Monday (local time) that negotiations with Iran are ongoing and a deal is possible, but warned that if talks collapse, the United States would return to large-scale military action.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Michigan, Trump said Iran had sought the meetings. "Iran wanted to meet and we are meeting," he said. "Let's see what happens." He added that Iran had requested talks both through intermediaries and directly. "There's a chance of making a deal. Good things can happen," he said.

Trump said he believed "there's a good chance something will happen," and that if it did, "that's a good thing." If not, he said, "we just go back to what we were doing two days ago." He also said the only reason Iran wants to talk to the United States is "because we hit them very hard."

Asked how much patience he has, Trump said he has "plenty of time."

The United States carried out 13 consecutive days of airstrikes against Iran in response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on US military bases in the Middle East, before halting the campaign on July 24. Washington and Tehran have been negotiating through intermediaries over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks.

Trump rebuffed analyses by US media and others suggesting that the wars in Ukraine and Iran have depleted American ammunition stockpiles. "We have a lot of ammunition of various types," he said, adding that the United States is restocking because Joe Biden "gave a lot to Ukraine."

He also said "our contractors have four or five factories each running right now and the situation is very good," while acknowledging that he would like to secure more of "the more sophisticated equipment."

With a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled for the following day, Trump was asked whether the two sides hold differing views on the war against Iran. "Some differences, but pretty much the same," he said.

Trump described Netanyahu as "a prime minister in wartime" and said the two "have done very well together." He added that Iran is now "at about 8 percent of what it was four months ago," without elaborating on what metric he was referring to. The remark was widely interpreted as suggesting that Iran's overall military capabilities have plunged since the start of the conflict.

On allegations that Russia has been providing Iran with satellite imagery of US military bases in the Gulf region to help Tehran select targets, Trump said "we'll find out soon" and that he would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin about it.

Earlier, in an interview with Axios, Trump said the United States is engaged in "very deep negotiations with Iran," warning that if the talks fail to produce results, "we will go back to very powerful military action."