Trump Says No Iran Deal Needed, Moves Vance to Corruption Role
The president said his blockade and sanctions are doing the job. His order sidelines a vice president who had led earlier talks with Tehran and blamed the war for the midterm losses.
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 – President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States does not need a deal with Iran, and told Vice President JD Vance to turn “his complete and total attention” to alleged crime and corruption in cities and states run by Democrats.
The order came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance was thinking about face-to-face talks with a hard-line Iranian security official. It also came a week after Vance blamed the costly war with Iran for the Republicans’ heavy losses in the midterm elections.
Trump made his position plain in a post on social media: “We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed.”
He said the United States has Iran’s money, which he put at hundreds of billions of dollars, and that it controls the Strait of Hormuz.
In recent weeks, Trump had suggested that Iran would be more ready to strike a deal once the American elections were over. But this week, his administration signaled that it believes its blockade and economic sanctions are working. That means it sees no need for either more military action or new talks.
The United States military is blockading Iran’s ports while working to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for ships from other countries. On Thursday, Iran’s military said explosions struck four oil tankers after they ignored Iranian warnings.
Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move sidelines a man who has played a central role in efforts to end the war.
Vance has long been seen as doubtful about the war, which the United States and Israel launched against Iran in February. In April, he led talks with Iranian officials in Pakistan. Those talks produced a memorandum of understanding in June that paused the fighting. But the pause broke down within weeks.
Late last month, Iranian state media said Tehran had received a letter from Vance requesting new talks. Trump said he had not told his vice president to reach out.
Then, on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance was considering a meeting with a senior Iranian security official. Such a meeting would have put him at the center of peace talks. Reuters has not confirmed that report.
The administration’s tone has hardened this week. After talks with allies in Paris on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran’s demands for a deal “absurd.” He pointed to Tehran’s call for payments to cover war damage, and said Trump would not sign a bad deal.
Vance had already put some distance between himself and the war. After the Republicans’ defeat last week, he said the cost of the Iran war was partly to blame. He also said an earlier recommendation to end the war had been “sound advice.”
Trump hit back at the time. He defended the war as necessary to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Vance is seen as a leading contender for the Republican nomination in the 2028 presidential election.
In Thursday’s post, Trump said he wants Vance to focus on a task he had already given him: leading an effort against what Trump calls widespread fraud in Democratic-run cities and states.
Trump said fixing what he described as large-scale criminal activity could quickly balance the federal budget. He also accused Democratic leaders of corruption. He did not give details or evidence for those claims in the post.
Iran has rejected the idea that the blockade will force it to give in. Its security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said this week that there are no talks with Washington and that Iran’s enriched uranium will not leave the country.
