President Donald Trump said Friday he is “optimistic” a deal with Iran is “within reach” ahead of high-stakes negotiations in Pakistan, while warning the United States is “loading up” its warships in the region and is prepared to resume military action if diplomacy collapses.
The remarks come as Vice President JD Vance departed aboard Air Force Two for Islamabad, where he will join special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner for talks set to begin Saturday, with Iranian officials already arriving in the Pakistani capital.
In a statement provided to Fox News on Friday afternoon, the White House said Trump “tasked Vice President Vance, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Mr. Kushner with traveling to Islamabad to negotiate with Iran,” with officials from the National Security Council, State Department, and Department of Defense playing a supporting role.
“The president is optimistic that a deal can be reached that can lead to lasting peace in the Middle East,” the statement said, adding that Trump “will only accept one that puts America first.”
Trump struck a similarly optimistic tone in remarks to NBC News a day earlier, saying he was “very optimistic” a peace deal was within reach and suggesting Iranian officials appear more conciliatory in direct negotiations than in public statements.
“They’re much more reasonable,” Trump said, adding that Tehran has been “agreeing to all the things that they have to agree to.”
At the same time, the president made clear that failure to reach an agreement would carry significant consequences.
“We’re going to find out in about 24 hours. We’re going to know soon,” Trump said in a phone interview with the New York Post on Friday morning, calling the talks a pivotal moment.
He added that the U.S. has initiated what he described as a “reset,” saying, “We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously, and we blew them apart.”
“And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them — and we will be using them very effectively,” he said.
Speaking to reporters Friday evening before boarding Marine One, Trump reinforced that posture, saying Iran has been “militarily defeated” and warning the United States is prepared to “finish it off one way or the other” if negotiations fail.
Trump further sharpened his message in a pair of Truth Social posts Friday, arguing Iran is negotiating from a position of weakness while leveraging control over global shipping lanes.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” Trump wrote, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global energy shipments.
In a separate post, he added, “The Iranians are better at handling the Fake News Media, and ‘Public Relations,’ than they are at fighting!”
The talks are set to take place on Saturday in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, where Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has described the negotiations as “make or break” for securing a lasting ceasefire in the weeks-long conflict.
An Iranian delegation — led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — has already arrived in the city and was received by Pakistan’s military and diplomatic leadership amid heightened security.
The negotiations are expected to focus on U.S. demands that Iran relinquish its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, curb its ballistic missile program, and end support for regional proxy groups, while Tehran is expected to push for sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets.
Trump also made clear — in comments before departing Friday evening — that the United States would not allow Iran to restrict international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’re not going to allow that — it’s international water,” he said.
Asked what would define a successful agreement, Trump said the priority remains preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“No nuclear weapons — that’s 99% of it,” he said.
Vance, speaking before departure, struck a cautiously optimistic tone while underscoring the conditions for success.
“We’re looking forward to the negotiation. I think it’s going to be positive. We’ll, of course, see,” Vance said.
He added that “if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,” while cautioning that “if they’re going to try and play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
A Reuters report Friday said some Iranian officials had quietly expressed interest in Vance taking a leading role, viewing him as more skeptical of prolonged military conflict, though the White House pushed back on that characterization.
Other reporting has pointed to internal disagreements within Iran’s leadership over the composition of its negotiating team and whether to engage on key issues such as its missile program, underscoring the challenges facing both sides as they enter talks.
The negotiations follow a fragile ceasefire reached this week after nearly six weeks of conflict, during which U.S. forces carried out a sweeping campaign that military leaders say dealt a decisive blow to Iran’s capabilities.
U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Thursday that Iran “has suffered a generational military defeat,” with its decades-long military buildup “crushed in under 40 days” after thousands of strikes dismantled its missile, drone, and naval infrastructure.
While active combat operations have paused, U.S. forces remain fully postured across the region, with Trump signaling that military assets will stay in place until what he has described as a “real agreement” is secured.
With both sides entrenched on key issues and the ceasefire showing signs of strain, officials have acknowledged that the talks in Islamabad could prove decisive in determining whether the conflict moves toward a negotiated settlement or a renewed phase of escalation.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
