March 26, 2026 - Trump says he is not sure that U.S. is "willing" to strike peace deal with Iran

451 next. They are begging to work out a deal. I don't know if we'll be able to do that. I

don't know if we're willing to do that. Well, that's a change. Donald Trump speaking at the

beginning of a cabinet meeting, talking about the situation with Iran. Simon Marx is LBC's

Washington correspondent. What's changed now, Simon? He was all over the map again today, Tom.

And I think it's worth making the point that more so than in any previous Trump appearance,

this one was dominated by questions that were not being asked by reporters, but by paid

propagandaists working on behalf of polemical publications and streaming channels. President

Trump, as you said there, as you indicated there, said that talks are still going on with the

Iranians, but he made it absolutely clear he's not desperate to do a deal with them.

And I read a story today that I'm desperate to make. If I was desperate, he'd be the first to

know me. Let's get that out of there. I'm the opposite of desperate. I don't care.

I want to know. In fact, we have other targets we want to hit before we leave. We're hitting them

on a daily basis. And as he indicated there, he still got a target,

less even if a deal is struck. And the tenor of this presentation by the president today,

really, I think, underscored the fact that he is digging in. We did get to hear from the man

who has certainly been involved in many of those conversations through Pakistani mediators

with Iranian officials, a U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Whitkopf.

This has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks as you just indicated to the press.

We will see where things lead. And if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point

with no good alternatives for them, other than more death and destruction.

And there was more criticism of Prime Minister Sakeer Starmer and America's NATO allies

peppered throughout this TV appearance. This made for TV cabinet meeting with the president

for the first time indicating that perhaps if NATO faces a crisis in Europe arising out of Russian

aggression, the United States will not necessarily step up to the plate to defend countries,

including our own. We're always going to be there, at least we were, I don't know about

anymore, to be honest with you. I would have to be honest. We were always there when they needed

help. We always would have been there when they needed help. But then out there to protect us,

it doesn't make sense. All over the place, as you say Simon, and the deal that apparently has

now been rejected by Iran includes things like the Strait of Hormuz being open again.

Iran, either not having or having monitoring on a nuclear weapon, these are the things that

existed prior to this war. So are we going back to the things that Donald Trump ripped up,

like the JTPOA that he's got rid of in his first term? And we've just had to have a war and

lots of people die in order to get us back to where we were. Well, I mean, you're absolutely right,

Tom. All sorts of elements in that 15 point plan contain fresh questions about the president's

own credibility. And even at this cabinet meeting today, there was the talk of the need

to decommission and destroy Iranian nuclear sites that since last July, the White House has

maintained were completely obliterated and destroyed during Operation Midnight Hammer. I mean,

Steve Whitkoff, the special envoy, indicated that the talks in Geneva were going nowhere. He and the

other Americans officials involved had concluded that the Iranians were just playing for time. They

were hoping that a weaker president would eventually come to power in the United States. But that's

not what the Omanis who were acting as mediators in Geneva say. So there's still this gap between

reality and the White House version of events. Simon, as always, really appreciate it. Thank you so

much for your time. Simon Marx is LBC's Washington correspondent.