President Donald Trump is sharpening his message to Iran as crucial negotiations approach, with talks aimed at ending hostilities. He cautioned that Iran’s leaders are in a position of weakness while attempting to exploit global shipping routes.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the world by using international waterways,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s comment reflects growing frustration in the United States over threats to vital maritime routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint through which a significant portion of the world’s oil supply passes.
“The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” Trump added.
The president also wrote, “Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead.” He further claimed that Iran’s missile and drone infrastructure had been “largely obliterated,” along with the weapons themselves, and said the country’s longtime leaders “are no longer with us.”
A senior U.S. delegation is preparing for direct talks, led by Vice President JD Vance and including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner. The delegation is scheduled to travel to Pakistan, where it will meet with Iranian officials for discussions on Saturday.
“The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may ‘bunk’ into one of their sea mines,” Trump wrote, adding that “all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea.”
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to countries all over the world,” Trump said, listing China, Japan, South Korea, France, and Germany among those that could benefit.
Trump also said that multiple large tankers were en route to the United States “to LOAD UP with Oil.”
Media Coverage and Political Response
Sen. John Fetterman told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Thursday evening that much of the U.S. media was “carrying water” for Iran, suggesting that some outlets were doing so to spite President Trump. However, he declined to specifically criticize his fellow Democrats.
Watters asked, “Senator, do some members of your party think Trump is more dangerous than the Iranians?” The question came amid criticism of the president over his approach to Iran and the regime in Tehran, which has faced longstanding condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats over its nuclear ambitions and other activities.
“I can’t speak for my other Democrats, but the American media has, essentially, become—carrying water for Iran,” Fetterman said. “And they’re describing the kinds of circumstances, then they forget the way Iran has behaved.”
“Why can’t we just call what Iran has been—and what it continues to do—those things? America is the force of good in the world, and holding Iran accountable for what they’ve done is important,” he added.
Fetterman also delivered a combative defense of U.S. military operations in Iran during a heated exchange last month with former Daily Caller staffer and current CNN host Kaitlan Collins. At one point, he bluntly told her, “You don’t have to cut me off here.”
Fetterman appeared on The Source as fallout continued from a Feb. 28 Tomahawk missile strike that reportedly hit the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in Minab, southeastern Iran. Iranian reports claimed that at least 175 people were killed, most of them children.
A preliminary U.S. military investigation later reportedly found that the strike resulted from faulty targeting intelligence based on outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The intended target was reportedly an adjacent Iranian military base.