Trump Says He Is ‘Losing Faith’ in Iran Talks, Vows to Hit ‘Very Hard’

WASHINGTON, Jul 31: US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States would continue striking Iran “very hard,” declaring that Washington’s goal is to “win” the war and insisting that Tehran will not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Speaking to reporters during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland, Trump said the US was performing well in the conflict and claimed Iran’s military capabilities had been severely damaged.

“We just want to win. We’re doing very well. We’re trying to be as nice as you can be in a situation like that. But they’re being decimated,” Trump said.

“It’s very simple,” he added. “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump warned that the US would continue its military campaign against Iran until Tehran was no longer able to sustain the conflict.

“We’ll be hitting Iran very hard, and at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore’,” he said.

The president also rejected reports suggesting that Iran remained in a strong position, arguing that the country was suffering significant military losses.

“Iran is doing very poorly,” Trump said, accusing Tehran of being “very dishonest” and “very dishonorable to deal with.”

Trump compared the current conflict with previous US wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, stressing that the United States had been involved in the war for only five months but had, in his words, “obliterated” Iran’s military capacity.

Alongside his warnings of further military action, Trump said he was increasingly skeptical about negotiations with Tehran, saying he was “losing faith” in Iran because he believes Iranian officials repeatedly lie and break their commitments.

“I’m losing faith in them because they do lie,” Trump said.

“They always want to talk, but they break their words so often,” he added.

Trump said negotiations had involved US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We have great people talking,” he said.

However, Trump said the talks were disrupted by a missile attack on a US military base in Jordan. He said he had been expecting a call from Witkoff while negotiations were underway when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth informed him that five missiles had been fired at one of the US bases in Jordan.

“We were in the midst of a negotiation. I’m waiting for Steve (Witkoff) to call me, I was in negotiation, and instead I got a call from Pete (Hegseth) that they just shot five missiles at one of our bases in Jordan,” Trump said.

Asked whether such attacks could continue, Trump said he could not rule them out and warned that US forces would have to remain vigilant.

“I think I’m going to be foolish to say no. You always have to keep your guard up,” he said.

Trump nevertheless suggested that Iran’s ability to sustain the conflict would eventually decline.

“They get weaker. They get a little stronger, maybe now, but they’ll get weaker, and then they peter out,” he said.

Trump’s remarks underscored the increasingly hardline US position, combining a commitment to continued military strikes with a demand that Iran abandon any ability to develop a nuclear weapon, even as diplomatic contacts between the two sides remain underway.