Trump claims Iran “obliterated” as he weighs exit from West Asia war
2 min readUpdated: Mar 26, 2026 08:54 PM US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the Iranians are great negotiators, but that he is not sure he is willing to make a deal with them to end the war. The US president was addressing news conference from the White House on the US-Israel war against Iran.
Top quotes from Donald Trump’s address:
“They (Iran) are begging to make a deal, not me. And everybody who saw what’s happened over there knows why.”— Trump pushing back on reports that Iran isn’t engaged in peace talks.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that.”— Trump expressing uncertainty over agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran.
“We are absolutely obliterating Iran. They’re defeated, they’re not making a comeback. They now have a chance to make a deal, but that’s up to them.” — Trump claiming a decisive upper hand in the conflict.
“We’re crushing the missiles and drone stockpiles, destroying their defence industrial base, we’ve wiped out their navy, their air force completely, and wiped out a large percentage of their missiles, and 90 percent of their launchers.” — Trump outlining what he described as the scale of military damage inflicted on Iran.
“I say they’re lousy fighters but great negotiators.” — Trump’s blunt characterisation of Iran’s leadership, while also calling them “not fools” and “very smart in a certain way.”
“We are way ahead of schedule.” — Trump claiming the war is progressing faster than the originally projected four-to-six week timeline.
“Never forget this very important time.” — Trump’s cryptic warning, interpreted as an ominous signal about NATO’s future.
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