A CNN host was left stunned as a montage of Donald Trump’s claims on Iran delivered an uncomfortable reality check for the president.
On Thursday, the network stitched together a series of clips showing Trump insisting repeatedly that Iran was eager to strike a deal to end the war he started back in February—leaving anchor Kasie Hunt visibly taken aback as the footage clashed with both the president’s own shifting claims and the reality on the ground.
CNN pulled together 14 clips of Trump declaring that Iran was desperate to “make a deal,” spanning from March 23 to Wednesday, with him variously claiming the war would end “very quickly,” that Tehran wanted an agreement “a lot more” than he did, and that Iran was “dying to make a deal.”
The montage ended with the 80-year-old president aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, insisting Iran “wants to make a deal so badly,” a striking contrast to his comments that same day in Ankara, Turkey, where he declared the fragile peace deal with Tehran was “over” as fighting resumed.
“They’re liars. We make a deal… Everyone’s agreed, no nuclear weapon. They go outside, talk to the press, they say ‘We never even talked about it,” Trump said at the NATO summit.
The president said he no longer wanted to negotiate with Iran, branding the country’s leaders “scum” after Tehran targeted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and launched strikes against U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Since Tuesday, the two countries have continued trading tit-for-tat strikes, marking the largest exchange of fire between them since they signed a “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) for a ceasefire in June.
Trump’s June deal came after weeks of repeated claims that Iran was eager to negotiate—with the president insisting from the start of the war on Feb. 28, which he initially predicted would last “four to six weeks,” that Tehran wanted an agreement.
The deal was heavily criticized by opponents who argued it gave Iran too many concessions without securing sufficient returns.
The deal included commitments from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure during the war sent global oil prices soaring, as well as the creation of a $300 billion fund to support the country’s reconstruction if certain conditions were met.
The MOU stopped short of outlining any concrete measures to ensure Iran would dismantle its nuclear program or prevent it from developing nuclear weapons—the stated reason Trump gave for U.S. involvement in the war. Instead, it only extended the ceasefire and allowed negotiations over a final agreement to continue for another 60 days.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he approved the agreement with the U.S. despite holding a “different view,” claiming Trump had “out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage” to force the deal through.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump was informed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about fresh Iranian strikes on Monday, prompting him to ask whether they believed Tehran was serious about reaching a final agreement. After speaking with his senior aides, the president reportedly determined that it was not.
“They’re sick people, they’re led by sick people. They’re vicious, violent people. If they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” Trump said in Ankara.
Despite declaring negotiations pointless, the president said his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, 45, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, 69, could keep working to reach a deal with Iran— though he warned it was “just a waste of time.”
The Iran negotiations have also sparked backlash over Trump’s choice of negotiators, with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade questioning why Kushner and Witkoff were put in charge of such a high-stakes diplomatic effort.
“They’re business guys. They have not been effective in Ukraine, not been effective in Gaza. They have not been effective in this. They can’t have three portfolios to begin with. We have a State Department for a reason,” Kilmeade said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
