The U.S. president said in an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that, in his view, the war with Iran is “coming to an end.”
“[The war with Iran] is coming to an end, yes, I mean that, as it seems to me, it is very close to ending,” Trump said.
At the same time, the White House chief told ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl that he does not intend to extend the ceasefire because he does not consider it necessary.
“I think you are in for an amazing two days. I really believe that,” Karl quoted Trump as saying.
The journalist asked the president whether the war would end with an agreement or whether the U.S. would say: “We destroyed their potential, and that’s it.”
“It can end in different ways, but in my opinion, an agreement is preferable, because then they [the Iranian authorities] will be able to rebuild the country. They really do have a different regime now. No matter what, we destroyed the radicals. They are gone,” the White House chief replied.
In a private conversation with Karl, Trump also added that if he were not president, “the world would be torn to pieces.”
These statements came a few hours after the U.S. president told the New York Post that a new round of peace talks “could take place within the next two days” in Pakistan.
The previous meeting took place on April 11 in Islamabad. It was attended by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The sides failed to reach consensus on several issues.
After that, Trump said that the U.S. Navy would “begin blocking absolutely all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz.”