President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that he would prefer to address the crisis over Iran’s proximity to nuclear breakout time without Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump was asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he would support Israeli strikes, and responded, “We’ll have to see. I’m gonna be meeting with various people over the next couple of days. Hopefully, that can be worked out without having to worry about it.”
“It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step,” Trump said. “Hopefully that can be worked out. Iran hopefully will make a deal, and if they don’t make a deal, I guess that’s OK too.” Implying that an Israeli strike is still an option on the table.
He added that his special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, would play a key role in the diplomatic efforts surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. Witkoff, a Jewish real estate investor with close ties to Hamas’s main sponsor Qatar, applied enormous pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. Putting him in charge of his Iran strategy is part of Trump’s broader mandate to “stop the wars” in the Middle East, according to the Financial Times citing knowledgeable sources.
In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, imposing strict sanctions on Tehran and warning that any confrontation with Washington or pursuit of nuclear weapons would lead to “the official end of Iran.”
The Tehran Times noted on Friday that Witkoff is replacing Brian Hook, who served as US Special Representative for Iran and Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from September 2018 to August 2020 and in those positions led the first Trump administration’s harsh sanctions regime against Iran. In 2018, Pompeo set up the Iran Action Group to coordinate and run US policy toward Iran with Hook as its head.
After Trump’s victory in November 2024, Hook was reportedly tasked with overseeing the State Department’s transition team and recruitment process. He represented the Trump team in a CNN interview in which he asserted that Trump “understands” Iran is “the chief driver of instability in today’s Middle East.”
Trump recently stated in a post on Truth Social: “My Presidential Personnel Office is actively identifying and removing over a thousand presidential appointees from the previous administration who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again,” adding, “Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars… YOU’RE FIRED!”
When asked if he had assigned Witkoff to lead the negotiations with Iran, Trump answered, “No, but he’s certainly somebody I would use. He’s done a fantastic job, he’s a great negotiator and a good person. A popular person, gets along with people.”
Trump added, “I have great negotiators with no personality whatsoever, but Steve has a wonderful way about him. People like him, even in this case – both sides like him. That deal (meaning the Gaza ceasefire – DI) would have never been made without Steve.”
There’s no doubt about it, Trump is in love.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Witkoff expressed his willingness to engage directly with U.S.-designated Hamas terrorists.
“I think you can get everybody on board in that region. I really do. With a new sense of leadership over there,” the Jewish-American envoy stated.
“Oh my gosh, Qatar was enormously helpful in this [truce deal]. Sheikh Mohammed [bin Abdulrahman Al Thani], his communication skills with Hamas were indispensable here,” he said of Doha’s premier (Trump to Put Witkoff in Charge of Nuclear Talks with Tehran, Reports Say).
