09 July,2026 10:14 AM IST | Washington | mid-day online correspondent
US President Donald Trump. Pic/AFP
US President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate following fresh US retaliatory strikes but expressed doubts over whether Tehran could be trusted to honour any agreement.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington after the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said the United States responded strongly after attacks on commercial vessels.
"We hit back much harder," Trump said on Wednesday (local time).
The US President said Washington would continue to respond to attacks while maintaining its main objective of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"They just we just hit it very hard, and I say we hit them 20 to 1; every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20. And we did it last night; we did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night they hit actually three boats, not two, and when they hit we hit back much harder," Trump said.
When asked whether the latest exchange marked a return to full-scale military conflict, Trump said the situation remained uncertain but claimed the US had multiple options.
"I don't know, I don't know," Trump said.
"We have many ways we can win, but we've already won militarily; they have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly they called a little while ago they want to make a deal so badly I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal," he said.
"I don't know that they're going to honour the deal; that's the problem," Trump said.
Responding to a question on why Iran would target commercial vessels while seeking negotiations, Trump said, "Because it's not crazy, to be honest with you, it's so crazy they're a little bit out of control, but they want to make a deal badly."
Trump said the confrontation with Tehran was focused on stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
"It was a de-nuking of Iran, denuclearisation of Iran, so, this is all about taking nuclear weapons, not allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons. And everybody should like that even you," he said.
The Trump administration has maintained that its approach involves military, diplomatic and economic pressure to push Iran towards changing its position.
The US President also rejected claims that a last-minute aircraft change before leaving Turkey was linked to a specific security threat.
He said the aircraft switch was made so personnel at the air base could view the plane.
When asked whether there had been any credible Iranian threat against Air Force One, Trump said, "All the time I'm number one on their list."
Trump described the NATO summit as successful and said the alliance showed unity following previous disagreements over defence spending.
"It was a very, very good meeting and people understand that the United States is and we've been treated very unfairly," he said.
"The meeting today settled a lot of things," Trump added.
Trump said future US troop decisions in Europe would depend partly on developments involving Greenland and Iran. He also claimed that allies who were earlier reluctant were now willing to assist on Iran.
"They all want to go, and they want to help on Iran so badly, but I don't really need help," Trump said.
The US President also praised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, saying he had "done a great job" and had "unified Syria."
Asked whether al-Sharaa had made commitments regarding Hezbollah in Lebanon, Trump replied, "He did," but did not share further details.
Trump also said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "was great" during their meeting.
The remarks came amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran following military exchanges and attacks on commercial shipping.
(With inputs from IANS)
