U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he is “not satisfied” with Iran’s latest proposal to end the ongoing conflict.
“They want to make a deal, but I don’t. I’m not satisfied with it, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Iran wants to make a deal, because they have no military left.”
“They’re asking for things that I can’t agree to,” he added.
Iran sent the proposal through mediators on Thursday, though details remain unclear. “They want to make a deal so badly, but they’re not there yet,” Trump told reporters. “In my opinion, they’re not there.”
“Do you want to go blast the hell out of ’em and finish them forever, or do we want to try and make a deal?” he said.
The president added that he’d prefer not to continue military strikes. “On a human basis, I’d prefer not, but that’s the option,” he told reporters.
Asked if he was considering new strikes on Iran, Trump said, “Why would I tell you that?
“Right now, we have negotiations going on,” the president said. “They’re not getting there. They are very disjointed. They’re extremely disjointed. They’re not able to get along with each other as leaders. They don’t know who the leader is.”
Trump noted that this puts the United States “in a bad position,” because separate groups in Iranian leadership want different deals.
The president dismissed the need for congressional authorization for further U.S. military action against Iran, arguing that other presidents have considered the War Powers Resolution “unconstitutional” and “exceeded” the law’s 60-day limit. Trump added that the current ceasefire reset the timeline.
