The President of the United States Donald Trump said something on Monday. He said that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran is not doing well. The United States and Iran have been fighting for than two months. Donald Trump did not like Iran’s idea to stop the fighting. That is why the ceasefire between the United States and Iran is in trouble. The President of the United States Donald Trump thinks the ceasefire, between the United States and Iran needs a lot of help to survive. Trump made the statement from the Oval Office, describing the Iranian response as a “piece of garbage” he did not finish reading. The White House simultaneously announced a new round of sanctions against Iran and said Trump would meet with his top military commanders to discuss next steps.
Iran submitted its counter-proposal to U.S. negotiators through Pakistan, which has been serving as a mediator. The proposal called for an end to the war on all fronts, the lifting of U.S. sanctions and the naval blockade on Iranian ports, compensation for war damages, and recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran also pushed all discussion of its nuclear program to a later stage of any agreement.
Trump did not accept any of those terms. “I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support,” he told reporters. “It’s unbelievably weak, I would say. I would call it the weakest right now after reading a piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it.”
He also accused Iran of reneging on an earlier verbal commitment. According to Trump, Iran had agreed during negotiations to allow the United States to remove its stockpile of highly enriched uranium from the country, but that promise was left out of the written proposal. “They told me, number one, you’re getting it, but you’re going to have to take it out,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “But they changed their mind, because they didn’t put it in the paper.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected that framing. Spokesman Esmail Baghaei described Tehran’s proposal as “reasonable and generous” and accused Washington of maintaining unreasonable positions. “We did not demand any concessions — the only thing we demanded was Iran’s legitimate rights,” Baghaei said. “The American side still insists on its one-sided views and unreasonable demands.”
Netanyahu Aligns with Trump, Signals War Is Not Over
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday, in a taped interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, that the war with Iran is “not over” and laid out what he sees as the remaining objectives. “There’s still nuclear material, enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran,” he said. “There is still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled, there’s still proxies that Iran supports, there are ballistic missiles that they still want to produce — there’s work to be done.”
When asked how the U.S. and Israel would remove the nuclear material, Netanyahu said plainly: “You go in, and you take it out.” He did not rule out using force to accomplish that goal.
Netanyahu and Trump spoke by phone on Sunday evening, shortly after Iran submitted its response to U.S. negotiators. Sources told CNN that Trump agreed during that call on the necessity of removing Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Netanyahu has continued to frame the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign as incomplete, and his public remarks on Sunday aligned closely with Trump’s Oval Office statements the following day.
Military Options Back on the Table
Donald Trump is getting really frustrated. This is changing the way people, in his administration are thinking. Now they are talking about starting strikes again. The idea of strikes is being discussed more and more because of Donald Trumps frustration. CNN reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the discussions, that Trump has grown more seriously open to renewing major combat operations than at any point in recent weeks. Trump’s impatience centers on two issues: the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and what he described as internal divisions in Iranian leadership preventing meaningful concessions.
“You have the moderates, and you have the lunatics,” Trump told reporters. “The moderates are dying to make a deal. And then you have the lunatics, and I guess they’re a little bit afraid of the lunatics.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said over the weekend that military action remains on the table. “If it’s clear in the next few days that there’s not a good path to a negotiated settlement, we will go back to the military method to open the strait,” Wright said, as reported by PBS NewsHour.
Trump also confirmed he is considering restarting “Project Freedom,” a short-lived U.S. operation to escort vessels through the Iranian-blocked Strait of Hormuz. He paused the initiative after it began on May 4, during a brief window of diplomatic engagement. In a Monday interview with Fox News, he said that if he revived the operation, it would “only be a piece” of a larger military action.
Strait of Hormuz Remains Contested
The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes — has remained a flashpoint since the ceasefire nominally took effect last month. Both the U.S. and Iran have exchanged fire in the waterway since the ceasefire began, according to CNN.
Iran’s military this week warned that countries enforcing sanctions against Tehran will “face problems” if their vessels attempt to transit the strait, according to Roya News. Iranian lawmakers are also drafting legislation to formalize Tehran’s management of the passage, with clauses that would ban vessels from what they term “hostile states.”
Iran’s counter-proposal demanded that the U.S. recognize Iranian sovereignty over the strait and end its naval blockade on Iranian ports. In return, Iran offered to allow commercial traffic through the waterway. Tehran’s Foreign Ministry called that a “generous and responsible offer for regional security.”
The UAE intercepted two Iranian drones on Sunday, and Qatar condemned a drone strike that struck a cargo ship from Abu Dhabi in Qatari waters, according to Reuters and CNBC. A suspected oil slick near Iran’s Kharg Island export hub was also detected on Monday by maritime intelligence firm Windward AI — a second such slick near the site, as a larger spill identified on May 8 continues drifting toward Saudi Arabian waters. The United Nations warned Sunday that oil spills in the region could trigger an environmental catastrophe.
Brent crude prices rose 2.7 percent on Monday to $104.03 a barrel, according to Time magazine, with the extended disruption to shipping lanes continuing to drive up energy costs globally. The average U.S. gasoline price reached $4.52 a gallon, according to AAA, as reported by CNN. Trump said on Monday he is considering temporarily suspending the federal gasoline tax to ease pressure on American consumers.
Diplomatic Efforts Continue at the Margins
Pakistan has continued its mediating role. Two regional diplomats familiar with the ongoing talks told Fortune that Islamabad is working toward a memorandum of understanding that could end the war and create a framework for broader dialogue on unresolved issues.
Turkey’s foreign minister is expected to visit Qatar on Tuesday for discussions on the Strait of Hormuz and the war’s impact on Gulf states, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters. Turkey has condemned both the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks in the Gulf.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham called on Monday for a reassessment of Pakistan’s mediating role, following reports that Islamabad had secretly housed Iranian military assets on its territory. “If this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States and other parties,” Graham wrote on X.
The Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a recent phone call that freedom of navigation must not be used as a bargaining chip. Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed the call but did not specify the exact date. Al-Thani separately met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami on Saturday to discuss Pakistan’s mediation efforts.
Background
The war between the U.S.-Israeli alliance and Iran began more than 74 days ago, following what officials described as a joint military campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28, according to Fortune. The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked to commercial shipping since the conflict began, sparking a global energy crisis that has pushed Brent crude nearly $20 above its pre-war level. A ceasefire was reached approximately one month ago, but both sides have continued to exchange fire in and around the strait. Iran’s nuclear program — including its enriched uranium stockpile and enrichment facilities — has remained the central sticking point in every round of negotiations.
What Happens Next
Trump said on Monday that he is going to meet with his military commanders. He wants to talk about what they can do because the latest proposal did not work out. Trump will discuss options, with his military commanders. The White House announced a new round of sanctions against Iran the same day, according to PBS NewsHour. Trump also said he has not yet made a final decision on restarting Project Freedom. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to hold talks in Qatar on Tuesday focused on Hormuz navigational safety and the war’s regional impact, according to Reuters. Pakistan is expected to continue mediating and is working toward a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, according to regional diplomats cited by Fortune.
