Trump says the US does not 'need a deal with Iran' and orders Vance to focus on fraud at home
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Vice President JD Vance to give his 'complete and total attention' to what he called massive corruption and crime in Democrat-run cities and states, and wrote: 'We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed.' The post came a day after reports that Vance was considering direct talks with a senior Iranian security official.
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This story is still being checked. Claims below are published as claims — never dressed as facts — and each one moves only when the evidence earns it.
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Key points
- Trump posted that Vance should give his 'complete and total attention' to corruption and crime in Democrat-run cities and states.
- In the same post: 'We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed.'
- The post came a day after reports that Vance was considering direct talks with Iran's security chief Rezaei.
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- Iran had not responded in the reporting read, and no formal change to the US negotiating team has been announced.
What happened
The United States and Iran have been at war since February, and the June memorandum of understanding that was meant to open a path to a settlement lapsed without a final deal. Vance, who helped negotiate that memorandum, tried last month to revive contact by writing to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council; Rezaei has publicly denied that negotiations are under way and says the Strait of Hormuz stays shut until Iran's seven conditions are met.
Trump's Thursday post redirects his vice president to a domestic brief — the anti-fraud task force Vance already chairs — and states in the president's own words that Washington does not need a deal. What that means for the talks themselves, and for the blockade and the strait, is not stated in the post.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That Trump posted the words quoted here on Thursday, in his own name.
- That Vance chaired the administration's anti-fraud effort before this post, and helped negotiate the June memorandum with Iran.
- That oil prices were mixed on Thursday after the comments, CNBC reported.
What we don't know yet
- Whether Vance's role in the Iran negotiations has formally ended, and who leads them now.
- How Iran will respond to the post — no Iranian response appears in the reporting read.
- What evidence supports the post's figures on fraud losses and on Iranian money held — the post gives none.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (5)
Why this label: These are the president's own words in his own post, quoted word for word by several outlets; that he said them is verified by the post itself. His claims about the scale of fraud are his assertions, carried as such.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The quotation is the president's own. What the United States holds of Iran's money, and who controls the Strait of Hormuz in practice, are his assertions and are carried as his words, not as findings.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The MOU history and the October letter are reported by the Post; the letter and Rezaei's denial of negotiations are also carried on Vozia's live story on Rezaei's seven conditions.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: CNBC's market report of Thursday's trading; prices move for many reasons, and the report attributes the day's moves to the comments.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: One outlet's account of the consequence; the post itself sets Vance's task but does not name a replacement negotiator.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why it matters
The vice president was the most senior US figure actively exploring talks with Tehran. If his own president has publicly closed the door on a deal, the remaining routes to ending the war narrow to the envoys' channel and to events on the water — where tanker incidents in the strait are continuing.
Background
Show the background timeline (4)
The US and Iran sign a 14-point memorandum of understanding opening a 60-day window to finalise an end to the war; the window lapses without a deal.
Vance writes to Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei seeking a meeting; Rezaei publicly denies negotiations are under way.
The Wall Street Journal reports Vance is considering face-to-face talks with Rezaei.
Trump posts that Vance should focus on domestic fraud, and that the US does not need a deal with Iran.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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Published in Checking state — the president's words are on the record, and Iran's response and any formal change to the US negotiating team are still to come.