Trump on Iran: “Do I Finish It Off, or Do I Make a Deal?”

Written By TNT Staff, Posted on October 26, 2026

Featured photo: The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) underway in the Atlantic Ocean. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian G. Reynolds, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

President Trump says the clock is running out on Iran. On Sunday he told Tehran’s rulers they have two paths left: a deal, or the end of the war on America’s terms.

“I have a decision to make: Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? That’s all,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, as reported by CBS News and Bloomberg. “We don’t play games.” Other outlets quoted the line as “Do I make a deal with them, or do I finish them off?” Bloomberg reported that Trump called it “getting to be decision time.”

Later that day, as he left the White House for a rally in Michigan, Trump was asked whether strikes were coming. “Would I tell you that?” he said, before adding: “There will not be a strike today,” according to Rudaw and Fortune. In a separate interview with FOX 2 Detroit, he said the war would not end until the United States is satisfied Iran has no nuclear weapons capability, Iran International reported. “I’m going to make a great deal. I’m a longterm person; I’m not a short term person,” he said.

A third carrier heads east

The words come with steel behind them. The carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and Carrier Strike Group 9 left San Diego on Sept. 27 on what USNI News called an expected Middle East deployment, a move a defense official confirmed. The USNI News Fleet Tracker placed the carrier at Yokosuka, Japan, in mid-October, still sailing west.

Two U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Oct. 20 that the Roosevelt group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit are bound for the Middle East, with the carrier due by the end of November. The Navy already has two carriers there, the USS George H.W. Bush and the USS George Washington. One caution: USNI News reported the Roosevelt is expected to relieve the George Washington, so whether the region will hold three carriers at once, or for how long, is not confirmed. The Pentagon has not announced it.

Why “after Nov. 3”

Trump has said he would not strike Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, The National reported. Beyond that, the timing comes from unnamed sources. Bloomberg cited officials who warn that the window between the election and the new Congress could be “particularly dangerous,” and a person it described as familiar with Tehran’s thinking who said Iran is preparing to retaliate against Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Those are reported claims, not announced plans.

Meanwhile, Iran is attacking shipping. Shipping and maritime security officials told Bloomberg Tehran is now using guided missiles rather than drones against vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command says its forces have helped more than 3,000 commercial vessels transit the strait over six months and helped Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude, figures CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper announced during a visit to the strait on Sunday, Al Arabiya reported.

Tehran: talks yes, “surrender” no

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Sunday that messages are still passing to Washington through intermediaries. “We have never left the negotiating table. At the same time, we have been fully prepared to defend our country,” he said, according to the state-backed Tehran Times as quoted by Rudaw. He complained that U.S. officials keep using the phrase “complete surrender,” which he said no Iranian accepts.

Tehran’s own terms show why talks are stuck. Its “seven-day plan,” as Rudaw described it, would require Washington to lift its naval blockade, release Iran’s frozen assets and end the war “across the resistance movement,” a phrase that covers Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran’s other proxies. Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday, according to Iran International.

The nuclear question is the whole question

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates Iran held 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% before the June 2025 strikes. By the agency’s own yardstick, that is enough for about 10 bombs if enriched further. The IAEA says it cannot verify the size or location of that stockpile, because Iran has kept inspectors out of the bombed sites. Agency chief Rafael Grossi told the AP most of it is likely still in the tunnels at Isfahan.

That is the test for any deal. A regime that chants “Death to America,” arms the Houthis who have repeatedly struck Riyadh’s airport and is now firing missiles at tankers cannot be allowed to keep a path to the bomb, or a hidden half-ton of near-weapons-grade uranium. The 2015 Obama deal paid Tehran up front and let its enrichment limits expire on a timer. Trump has said he will not repeat that, and he is right.

Peace through strength is not a slogan here. It is the only reason Iran is still passing notes through Qatar instead of dictating terms in the Gulf. A good deal means full IAEA access, the 60% stockpile shipped out or destroyed, no enrichment, and an end to the proxy wars. Anything less only buys time for the next war. If Tehran won’t take that deal, the president has made clear what comes next.

TNT Staff