President Donald Trump said Thursday morning that the United States no longer needs a deal with Iran, and in the same Truth Social post he told Vice President JD Vance to turn his full attention to what Trump called corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states.
“We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed,” Trump wrote. “We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!”
CNBC reported that the “Strait” is a reference to the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint in the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.
A sharp turn from before the midterms
The post is a reversal in tone. According to NBC News, Trump said numerous times in the run-up to last week’s midterm elections that there would likely be an agreement with Iran to resolve the conflict in the near future.
NBC also noted that both Trump and Vance have, to varying extents, blamed Republican losses in those elections on the ongoing war, which drove up costs and sparked a voter backlash.
Vance’s new assignment
In the same post, Trump wrote: “I have asked Vice President Vance to focus his complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States throughout the U.S.”
“The Blue States, such as Minnesota, California, Illinois, and many more, are all poorly run, corrupt disasters. Billions of Dollars is being stolen each and every month,” Trump continued, according to CNBC. “Our Budget could be quickly BALANCED with the correction of this large scale criminal activity.”
“CORRUPTION is in the Democrat Leadership’s blood!” he added.
What comes next
The post lands as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress next year, and as the White House has already warned incoming Democratic oversight leaders that their planned investigations could cross into “blatant criminality.” The same morning, Trump also threatened to double tariffs on Mexico over migrant caravans.
The White House has not detailed what Vance’s new focus will involve or what it means for U.S. diplomacy with Iran.
Reporting based on accounts from CNBC and NBC News.