How many times has Trump claimed that the deal with Iran is almost ready?

More than two months have passed since President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, stating at the time that the parties were close to reaching an agreement.

As CNN notes, on April 7 Trump wrote on social media that the parties were “very far along in the advanced stage” of negotiations, but two more weeks were needed to finalize and sign the agreement. He ended the post by saying it was an “honor” for him to see this long-standing problem nearing resolution.

Of course, no resolution followed. Nevertheless, over the next two months Trump continued to assert that the deal was about to be concluded. And he did so repeatedly.

If the period before the ceasefire is also taken into account, he made such statements at least 37 times. That is how many times — in social media posts, public speeches and phone calls with journalists — he directly said that an agreement was already close or claimed that Iran was desperate to conclude one.

There are no signs that this claim is any closer to the truth today than it was on April 7. But Trump keeps repeating it — either because he genuinely believes it, or to calm financial markets, or in the hope that constant statements will make the desired outcome a reality.

However, it is clear that such forecasts should no longer be taken seriously.

It all began on March 23, less than a month after the start of the war. Speaking to journalists beside Air Force One, Trump discussed the supposed peace talks and said there were “main points of agreement — I would say almost all points are agreed.” (In reality, Iran denied that negotiations were taking place.)

The very next day he began using the formulation that would later become familiar: Iran was supposedly desperate to make a deal.

“I think we’ll put an end to this,” Trump added. “But I can’t guarantee it.”

On March 25 he said Iran “wants to make a deal so badly.” On March 26 at a cabinet meeting he said Iran was “begging for a deal.”

(Despite this supposed strong interest, Iran somehow resisted concluding an agreement for another two and a half months.)

On March 29, while speaking to the press aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked whether he expected a deal within the next week. He replied:

“Yes, I see the possibility of a deal with Iran.”

By this point his predictions were becoming increasingly confident. On April 6 he said the parties had been “very close to an agreement” before complications arose.

The next day he announced the ceasefire, which was initially supposed to last two weeks while the parties finalized the details of the agreement.

A week later, on April 15, in an interview with Fox Business he stated:

“I think it’s almost done. In my view, there’s very little left to the end.”

“We’ll see what happens,” he added. “I think they really want to make a deal.”

In the following days Trump practically guaranteed its imminent conclusion:

• “It looks like we’re doing very well toward an agreement with Iran, and it will be a good deal,” he told journalists on April 16.
• On April 17, in three separate appearances, he claimed that Iran had “agreed to everything,” that “the deal will be done in a day or two” and that “there are almost no substantive disagreements left.”
• And on April 20, in a post on Truth Social, he predicted: “Everything will happen relatively quickly!”

When that did not happen, on April 30 Trump still said Iran was “dying to make a deal.”

“When the war ends, and it won’t take long...” he suggested in a conversation with journalists on May 1.

Then for a while Trump refrained from such forecasts, but on May 18 he announced that he was postponing military strikes for “two or three days” at the request of Middle Eastern countries, because, he said, they believed the parties were “very close to concluding a deal.”

By this point even Trump himself seemed to acknowledge how often such predictions had proven wrong.

“There have been periods when we thought we had almost reached an agreement, but nothing came of it,” he said, adding: “But now it’s a little different.”

That proved not to be the case. Nevertheless, he continued to make the same statements.

“We will end this war very quickly,” Trump said on May 19 at a reception for members of Congress.

On May 23 he again actively promoted the topic of an imminent deal. He said the administration had “significantly advanced” toward an agreement, that it was “basically already agreed and only needs final formalization,” that it would be announced “in the near future” and that only “final details” were being discussed.

On May 28, in an interview with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, he said the parties were “close to a very good deal.”

And on Sunday he again assured that the agreement was already “very close,” but claimed that clashes between Iran and Israel were putting it at risk.

“We are very close to a final deal with Iran,” he told Axios. “It will be a good deal. I don’t want what is happening now to ruin it all.”

At least for the third time Trump spoke to Axios about the imminent conclusion of an agreement.

Then on Monday, speaking at a telephone rally in support of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, he again predicted “total victory” within the next two weeks.

“Right now we are negotiating; they want to make a very good deal,” Trump said.

And then added:

“They are ready to give us everything.”

Source: CNN