President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony to swear in the new Secretary of Homeland Security Mark Wayne Mullin in the Oval Office of the White House on March 24, 2026 in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States and Iran are “currently negotiating,” suggesting that Iran is keen to reach a peace deal despite the Islamic Republic’s denials of direct talks with the United States.
Speaking in the Oval Office, President Trump said he was rescinding his recent threat to order attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure “based on the fact that we are negotiating.”
Asked to further explain his axis, Trump said, “They’re talking to us, and they’re talking to us in a logical way.”
Late Tuesday, the New York Times reported, citing two unnamed officials, that the United States had sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war.
It is unclear how widespread the plan, which was communicated through Pakistan, was among Iranian officials, the Times reported. The newspaper said it was also unclear whether Israel, which along with the United States is attacking Iran, would support the plan.
A day earlier, President Trump told reporters there were “about 15” points of agreement between the United States and Iran. Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is “first, second and third” on that list, he said.
President Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday that multiple U.S. officials were involved in the negotiations and had confirmed the names of Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He previously said that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner were in talks with their Iranian counterparts Sunday night.
Amid clashing messages between the United States and Iran over the negotiations, multiple news outlets reported that regional leaders were conducting behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to help broker an end to the war.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in an X post that Pakistan is ready to facilitate talks between the two countries. President Trump shared a screenshot of Sharif’s post on his official Truth social account late Tuesday morning.
“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions, and the United States has no intention of negotiating through the press,” White House press secretary Caroline Levitt told CNBC when asked if Trump’s post signaled he was open to Pakistan’s offer.
“As President Trump and his negotiators explore newfound diplomatic possibilities, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated to achieve the military goals set by the commander-in-chief and the Department of Defense,” Levitt said.
In remarks Tuesday afternoon, President Trump reiterated his claim that the United States has already won the Iran war.
President Trump has said the main purpose of the war is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “We have talked about it, and I don’t want to say it ahead of time, but they agreed that they would never have nuclear weapons. They agreed to that,” he said.
But the Trump administration has not backed away from plans to ask Congress to pass a massive war-related funding bill, reportedly totaling $200 billion.
And earlier Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is preparing plans to send about 3,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.
When asked about the report, White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly told CNBC: “All military announcements come from the Department of the Army. As we have said, President Trump always has a full range of military options at his disposal.”
