The president said U.S. forces are prepared to resume strikes as high-stakes negotiations in Pakistan test the fragile ceasefire.
President Donald Trump said the United States is preparing military options if negotiations with Iran fail to produce a deal, as delegations from both countries arrived in Pakistan to hold high-stakes talks that could lead to peace—or a resumption of hostilities.
“We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made,” Trump told the New York Post in an April 10 phone interview. “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them—and we will be using them very effectively.”
The remarks came hours before Vice President JD Vance departed for Islamabad, where U.S. and Iranian delegations are set to begin indirect negotiations aimed at ending more than a month of conflict and potentially turning a fragile ceasefire into a lasting truce.
“We’re going to find out in about 24 hours,” Trump said. “We’re going to know soon.”
Talks Begin Under Military Shadow
The negotiations, mediated by Pakistan, are expected to focus on core disputes over Iran’s nuclear program, control of the Strait of Hormuz, and the scope of the ceasefire, among other issues.
Vance is leading the U.S. delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner. Both the U.S. and Iranian teams held separate meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ahead of the talks, which are expected to begin later in the day.
Sharif’s office said Pakistan remains committed to facilitating a lasting resolution to the conflict, while U.S. officials have expressed cautious optimism.
“The Prime Minister expressed the hope that these talks would serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region,” Sharif’s office said in a statement on social media, while sharing a video showing Pakistani officials greeting Vance ahead of meetings.
Vance told reporters as he departed Washington on Friday that he thinks the outcome is “going to be positive” but warned that if Iran negotiates in bad faith, there would be consequences.
“If they’re going to try and play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he said.
Trump told the New York Post on Friday that they have a “reset going” on relations with Iran, though he cautioned that deception on the part of Iranian officials about key issues like nuclear enrichment could lead the talks to collapse.
“You’re dealing against people that we don’t know whether or not they tell the truth,” Trump said. “To our face, they’re getting rid of all nuclear weapons, everything’s gone. And then they go out to the press and say, ‘No, we’d like to enrich.’ So we’ll find out.”
Retired Gen. Jack Keane recently said that Trump is well aware of past Iranian deception and is confident that the president “will not make a bad deal.”
By Tom Ozimek
