CNBC (“Trump tells CNBC: ‘I don’t care’ if Iran negotiations are over“):
President Donald Trump on Monday shrugged off the possible collapse of peace negotiations with Iran, telling CNBC, “I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.”
“I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone interview midday Monday, saying he thought the protracted discussions “started to get very boring.”
Trump had been asked about the prospect of Iran ending talks with the U.S. in light of reporting earlier Monday that Iranian negotiators would take that step — and also move to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz — due to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.
Asked if the Iranians told him that they are not going to negotiate further, Trump said, “No, they haven’t.”
Trump said he was “going to ask” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “what’s going on with Lebanon.”
Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday afternoon that he “had a very productive call” with Netanyahu. “There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” Trump wrote.
He said in the same post that he spoke with Hezbollah “through highly placed Representatives,” and “they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
In another post, Trump wrote, “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Netanyahu, in an X post later Monday, said he told Trump that “if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens—Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut.”
David Sanger, NYT (“High-Wire Negotiations With Iran? Trump Finds It ‘Very Boring.’“):
For three months, President Trump has been deeply engaged in the Iran conflict, planning the 38 days of attack, struggling to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and proclaiming “a whole civilization will die tonight,” then backing away to declare a cease-fire and a naval blockage of Iranian ports.
But on Monday, after days of haggling with Iranian officials through intermediaries on a preliminary agreement, Mr. Trump declared it was starting “to get very boring.”
“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly,” he told Eamon Javers of CNBC when asked about reports that the Iranians, angry at continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and low-level conflict with the United States in the Persian Gulf, were threatening to stop negotiating. “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less. If they’re over, they’re over.”
There are reasons to doubt that Mr. Trump is truly so unconcerned: Gasoline prices have soared since the war began, with a senior Exxon-Mobil official predicting recently that prices could go far higher, and Republicans are taking note of how deeply unpopular the war with Iran is with their constituents. In recent weeks he has professed indifference about a range of issues that carry deep political consequences for him, including the midterm elections and the financial situation that Americans are facing.
But even for Mr. Trump, who has veered from threatening the Iranians with annihilation to declaring that they had already agreed to American terms to fuming that they have not, it seemed strange that he thought the whole conflict was becoming a bore.
[…]
Back in March, Mr. Trump confidently predicted the conflict would be over in a few weeks, saying it was not possible to suffer from boredom while facing off against a longtime American adversary: “Somebody said today, they said, ‘oh, well, the president wants to do it really quickly. After that, he’ll get bored.’”
“There’s nothing boring about this,” he added.
Axios (“‘You’re fucking crazy’: Trump fumes at Netanyahu in call on Lebanon“):
President Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon in an expletive-laden call on Monday, two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call told Axios.
[…]
One U.S. official said Trump told Netanyahu that following through on his threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel around the world. Two of the sources said Trump claimed he’d helped keep Netanyahu out of jail — a reference to his support during Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
Summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the U.S. official said: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
A second source briefed on the call said Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: “What the fuck are you doing?”
[…]
Trump and Netanyahu have had several tense calls in the past but have still coordinated closely on Iran and other issues. One official said this was one of Trump’s worst calls with Netanyahu since he returned to office. Trump’s anger appeared to be driven by the fact that Netanyahu’s decision to escalate in Lebanon was threatening to implode his negotiations with Iran. After the call, Trump posted on Truth Social that the Iran talks were “continuing, at a rapid pace.”
WaPo (“Iran says it is breaking off ceasefire talks over Israeli attacks on Lebanon“):
Escalating violence in the Middle East is threatening to derail stalled peace talks between Iran and the United States as negotiators struggle to extend a shaky ceasefire and end the war.
Iran suspended talks with the U.S. on Monday after Israel intensified attacks in Lebanon, according to state media reports and an Iranian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press.
[…]
Expanded Israeli military operations are complicating peace talks between Iran and the U.S. because Iranian officials insist that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon was included under the ceasefire announced in April. Hezbollah was funded and trained by Iran over decades and remains a key ally.
“The ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts including in Lebanon,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted Monday on X. “Violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts.”
U.S. and Iranian negotiators have been engaged in talks for weeks, but have failed to resolve key differences on the future of Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, the ceasefire is increasingly coming under strain, with the two sides trading tit-for-tat attacks in recent days.
[…]
In addition to Israeli operations in Lebanon, the official said last-minute changes to the deals’ terms by U.S. negotiators over the weekend also frustrated progress. The official said U.S. negotiators had not informed their Iranian counterparts of the new deal terms.
Tehran’s decision to pull back from the talks highlights the difficulty Trump is facing in bringing an end to an unpopular war that has caused worldwide economic disruption, including spiking energy prices.
U.S. military planners across several continents were on heightened alert for the potential expansion of hostilities, according to people familiar with the issue, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.
I’ve been a student of military science and international relations for a little over four decades now, and have never seen anything quite like this. I truly have no idea what the administration’s strategy is. I can only conclude that President Trump, who knows more than anybody about these things, is playing four-dimensional chess beyond my simple understanding. Quite possibly, he’s simply applying the madman theory at a level never before seen.
