When reporters asked President Donald Trump if he would strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, he replied with a line he could have lifted straight from his book The Art of the Deal – “Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Conflict broke out between Israel and Iran late last week, following reports Iran was closing in on developing nuclear weapons, as The Dallas Express reported. On June 18, a reporter asked Trump if “the U.S. is moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities?”
“You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question. ‘Will you strike the Iranian nuclear component, and what time exactly, sir?’” Trump replied. “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it, I may not do it – I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
.@POTUS on negotiations with Iran: "Nothing is too late. The only thing too late is Powell." pic.twitter.com/g7x5b9u8Gw
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 18, 2025
Trump also said Iran is in “a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.” He said the Israeli strikes on Iran took place after the nation refused negotiations – “It ended on the first night.”
“Why didn’t you negotiate with me before – all this death and destruction,” Trump said, referencing Iranian officials. “Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country.”
A reporter asked Trump if it was “too late” to make a deal with Iran.
“Nothing’s too late,” he said, simultaneously slamming Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for failing to drop interest rates – “The only thing too late is Powell.”
Trump’s strategy in his latest interview could almost have come straight from his book, The Art of the Deal.
In the book, Trump explains the press is “always hungry for a good story, and the more sensational the better… if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you.” So he clearly understood the reporter’s motives – and his final jab at Powell could have been an attempt to distract from Iran.
After the conflict broke out, Trump used strong rhetoric against Iran, at one point warning to “immediately evacuate Tehran” and demanding “unconditional surrender.” Some of Trump’s base, including Tucker Carlson, expressed concern that “warmongers” are pushing the President to use this rhetoric and intervene in the conflict.
But ultimately, Trump has hidden his hand. He could be outmaneuvering Iran’s military leadership or simply be negotiating.
“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead,” he wrote in The Art of the Deal.
“The element of surprise wins battles.”