President Donald Trump renewed his threats against Iran just before midnight on Wednesday, saying all U.S. service members, ships, aircraft and military personnel in the Middle East would stay in place until what he called a real agreement was reached. In a Truth Social post, the 79-year-old president warned that if no deal came together, then the “Shootin Starts,” and said any strikes would be “bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”
Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz would be kept open and safe, and that U.S. forces were “Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest.” The post marked a sharp escalation in tone from a day earlier, when he backed down on a deadline to obliterate Iran and said the United States would suspend attacks for two weeks, provided Tehran agreed to the “complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The move came after Trump said Iran had flagged a “workable” 10-point plan for a ceasefire and called it a “basis on which to negotiate.” He also posted what he said was a statement from Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, claiming ships would be allowed through the strait for two weeks if attacks on Iran stopped, and later said that statement was Iran’s “official statement.”
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But Iran sent mixed signals. A separate statement from the Supreme National Security Council said Tehran would continue to control the strait and claimed victory over Trump. anchor Jake Tapper said on Wednesday that that version of events did not fit the messaging the Trump administration wanted to project, while Trump accused of spreading fake news over its reporting. He also said fraudsters and charlatans were circulating fake copies of Iran’s ceasefire plan and wrote that they would be rapidly exposed after his “Federal Investigation” was completed.
The stop-start messaging has undercut the apparent ceasefire plan brokered by Pakistan, which had already hit multiple speed bumps. Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon angered Iran, missiles flew between a number of Middle Eastern countries after the temporary truce was announced, and Tehran’s conflicting statements on the strait and the ceasefire have left Washington and its allies trying to read a deal that still does not appear settled.
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For now, Trump is signaling that U.S. forces will stay deployed and the pressure will continue until he gets terms he is willing to call real. What remains unanswered is whether the ceasefire and shipping arrangement can survive the contradictions already built into them.
