Donald Trump has claimed that Iran sent him a mysterious gift to win him over—even as the Pentagon prepares to deploy the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East as part of the conflict.
Planning is reportedly underway to send a brigade combat team of about 3000 soldiers from the division, opening the door to America unblocking the Strait of Hormuz by force, capturing the country’s enriched uranium, or seizing some of its strategic sites.
But speaking at the White House on Tuesday afternoon as Iran continued sending missiles across the region, Trump gave another series of mixed messages by telling reporters: “We’ve won this war,” adding that, “the only one who likes to keep it going is the fake news.”
He then claimed that Iran had given him a mysterious and significant “prize” as part of newly revived negotiations—talks that Iran continues to publicly deny have gained any traction.
“They’re gonna make a deal. They did something yesterday that was amazing, actually,” he told reporters.
“They gave us a present, and the present arrived today. It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. I’m not gonna tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize.”
Asked if it was nuclear related, the 79-year-old Commander in Chief replied: “No, it wasn’t nuclear related—it was oil and gas related, and they did a very nice thing, because what it showed me is that we’re dealing with the right people.”
The bizarre remarks added to the confusion of what has already been a war underpinned by mixed messages, contradictory statements, and wild claims from both sides.
Trump still hasn’t declared who exactly the U.S. is negotiating with, even as he insists Iran is prepared to give up its nuclear ambitions and hand over control of the Strait, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint.
And in a sign that things could escalate, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the Pentagon was drawing up a written order to deploy the 82nd Airborne Combat Brigade to the region.
The elite unit serves as the Army’s emergency response force and can be deployed anywhere in the world in under 24 hours. They train to parachute into hostile territory to secure airfields and land.
While no announcements have been made yet for boots on the ground, the deployment essentially brings America one step closer to the prospect, as these forces could be used to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, and regain control of the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 per cent of the world’s oil usually flows.
Asked who was likely to control the Strait if the war ended, Trump replied: “We’ll have control of anything we want.”
The president insisted negotiations were underway, with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio now involved.
He said they would be assisting his son in law, Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who previously led negotiations.
Asked why he was now willing to consider a cease-fire, given he last week insisted he didn’t need one because Iran was getting “obliterated,” Trump simply replied: “They’re talking to us and they’re making sense.”
“I don’t want to say in advance, but they’ve agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon. They’ve agreed to that,” he said.
But negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program were also underway before Trump decided to join Israel in the war against Iran on February 28. At the time, Oman was the indirect mediator, and while there were sticking points, Oman’s foreign minister said a “breakthrough” was close.
Trump nonetheless decided to strike, getting the U.S. embroiled in a conflict that was not authorized by Congress, has killed at least 13 US service members and thousands of Iranian civilians, and sparked a global energy crisis with more pain at the pump.
Speaking on The Daily Show on Monday night, former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that just days before the US struck Iran, Tehran put up a proposal in Geneva “that went a long way towards resolving the nuclear issue.”
“My understanding is that our side, our negotiators, simply didn’t understand what they were being offered, and they ignored it and they decided to go ahead and strike,” he told host Jon Stewart.
“Our guys didn’t understand? Was it in Farsi?!” replied a gobsmacked Stewart.
