Trump 'all for' Iran peace talks, but 'ready, willing and able' to strike again

President Trump said he was "all for" lasting peace with Iran but "ready, willing and able" to strike if Tehran poses additional threats to the U.S., speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

Trump offered wide-ranging remarks to the press in what was initially billed as a private dinner with the Israeli leader. He said that talks with Iran are expected within the next week and warned that he is prepared for more military action if necessary. 

“I will tell you that in my view, I hope it's over. I think Iran wants to meet. I think they want to make peace and I'm all for it. Now, if that's not the case, we are ready, willing, and able,” Trump said, responding to a question on whether he believes the Israel-Iran war is over.

“But I don't think we're going to have to be.”

Trump said Netanyahu was better positioned to answer the question. The prime minister, sitting across the table, referred to Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile program as two “tumors” that the combined operations of Israel and the U.S. had removed. But like a cancer, he said, the situation would require constant monitoring.

“We had great achievements; it’s part of the effort to make sure we don't have to repeat this, we have to monitor this,” Netanyahu said. 

“No question this is a historic victory and I think as was said here today, we changed the face of the Middle East, we have an opportunity to create here a historic expansion of the Abraham Accords … that deserves a Nobel Prize for the president. I hope the opportunities are much bigger; I'd like to believe Iran will not test our fortitude. It would be a mistake.” 

Netanyahu is also expected to visit Congress on Tuesday, meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).

Monday was the first time Trump and Netanyahu met in person since the president ordered U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, a decision made in coordination with Israel’s bombing of key Iranian nuclear sites, nuclear scientists and military personnel.

U.S. officials in recent days have also sounded optimistic signals on securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, seen as key to unlocking much of the rest of Trump's goals in the Middle East, which range from keeping Iran weak to warming ties with Israel’s Arab and Gulf allies. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier in the day Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, would travel to Qatar this week to participate in ceasefire talks.

“I think things are going very well,” Trump said of the talks. 

Trump helped complete a previous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January that had been largely negotiated by the Biden administration. The ceasefire lasted for two months before falling apart over the second phase of the deal, which would have seen an end of the war. 

The latest proposal offered by the Trump administration includes a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with Hamas releasing 10 living hostages and 18 bodies over the course of the two months, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The talks are also reported to be considering the withdrawal of Israeli troops from certain parts of Gaza. 

Also on the table is a scale-up of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, with the United Nations and Palestine Red Crescent Society taking over distribution from the controversial, American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF). 

While the GHF has denied reports that the organization uses live ammunition and stun grenades to exercise crowd-control measures, Israeli officials have acknowledged that not enough food is reaching Palestinians. The Gaza Health Ministry has said hundreds of people have been killed and thousands were injured when trying to receive aid.

An NPR journalist detailed the dire situation and dangerous conditions in trying to get food aid, battling looters, live ammunition fired by Israeli soldiers, people being crushed in the chaos and stepping over bodies to continue the journey for food. 

A major sticking point in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas is what happens beyond the 60-day ceasefire. The proposal reportedly includes holding discussions for ending the war. But Israel has called for maintaining freedom of movement to carry out military operations, along with international governance of the strip and Hamas’s exile. 

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Israel’s goal is for Hamas to abdicate power and its leadership to leave Gaza, similar to the situation in 1982 where Israel forced the exit of then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon to Tunisia. 

“That’s something which is being discussed, to take the leadership of Hamas out of Gaza. … We don’t want Hamas to stay in power,” Danon told reporters during a visit to Washington, D.C., last week. 

Brett Samuels contributed to this report.