President Donald Trump told Fox News that a deal with Iran could be 'the greatest deal in history,' but said Iran must 'raise a white flag of surrender' first. He mocked any suggestion that a deal would be spun as an Iranian victory by 'fake news media,' adding, 'we are destroying them.' The remarks continue Trump's dual-threat posture of military destruction and diplomatic ultimatums toward Tehran.
President Donald Trump sharpened his ultimatum to Iran in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, reiterating that Tehran can still negotiate a deal but only on terms he characterized as surrender. 'This could be the greatest deal in history,' Trump said. 'They can raise a white flag of surrender and say “Allahu Akbar,” and the fake news media will say it was a great victory for Iran. This is the craziest thing I've ever seen. We are destroying them.'
The remarks bridge two themes Trump has pressed repeatedly in recent days: that the US military campaign is crushing Iran's capabilities, and that the only acceptable outcome is an unconditional diplomatic capitulation. As The Zioneer has reported, earlier on Tuesday Trump stated that 'the bully of the Middle East is dead' and called the Iranian military 'a total and complete mess.' He has also described the US naval blockade as 'very effective' and predicted 'total victory within two weeks' — contradictory timelines and endgame language that frame a maximalist negotiating position.
Trump's latest comments come after a flurry of statements across multiple outlets — Fox News, the New York Post, and the social media platform Truth Social — that together sketch a posture mixing triumphalism, derision of the media, and a public negotiating pivot back to the deal framework he previously rejected. No direct response from Tehran has been reported yet. The interview is one of several Trump has given as the US continues its air campaign against Iranian military targets and diplomatic channels remain open under Vice President JD Vance.
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