https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/23/politics/trump-shift-iran-talks
As President Donald Trump was departing Washington last week for Florida, ending the war with Iran appeared the last thing on his mind.
“You don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,” he said Friday from the White House South Lawn before getting in his helicopter and flying away.
Three days, one ultimatum and — in his telling — a few conversations with amystery official in Tehran later, Trump had adopted a different view.
The change in US posture came after warnings from Gulf allies that the striking civilian power sites in Iran could lead to disastrous escalation, according to people familiar with the conversations. And the announcement of talks, made two hours before the open of US trading on Monday, resulted in a rally on Wall Street and a sharp slide in the price of Brent crude — both areas that had been causing heartburn for Trump and his advisers.
Who, exactly, is doing the talking — or even whether they were talking at all — instantly became a matter of dispute. Trump, who refused to name the Iranian interlocutor his envoys were engaging, provided few details beyond describing the official as “respected.” And even as the president was speaking, additional Marine units were heading toward the Middle East, fueling skepticism about how real the talks are.
Trump’s comments Monday were a departure for the president, who for weeks had shrugged off even the idea of restarting discussions with Tehran, suggesting the regime was neither serious about making the requisite concessions nor its leadership intact enough to act as a reliable negotiating partner.
