What will Trump do next with Iran?

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Politics What will Trump do next with Iran? May 23, 20261:49 PM ET By Willem Marx A banner of President Donald Trump hangs over Iranian Americans and their supporters as they march from the U. Capitol to the World War II Memorial during a rally Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Washington.

Rod Lamkey/AP hide caption toggle caption Rod Lamkey/AP President Donald Trump has staked much of his political identity on his prowess as a dealmaker who is capable of bending adversaries to his will. But Iran, until now, has proved resistant to that approach. Since the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in late February, World Trump says he's called off Iran strike at request of Gulf allies a 38-day military campaign has given way to a fragile ceasefire, a mutual blockade centered on the Strait of Hormuz, and a cycle of stalled negotiations punctuated by Trump's repeated threats to resume large-scale attacks.

The Details

For more than six weeks now, the two countries have been locked in a standoff that has rattled global energy markets, regional stability, and Trump's domestic political standing. It has left governments, militaries, corporations and communities around the world asking: 'what will Trump do next? ' Sponsor Message On Monday, Trump announced he had called off a planned military strike at the request of Gulf Arab allies.

He then said that "serious negotiations are now taking place," adding that multiple regional partners — the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — had told him they believed "a deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America. " But even as he announced the pause, Trump told his military commanders to remain on standby for "a full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached. " That marked the latest spin in what has become a recurring cycle for Trump during this conflict: a deadline, a threat, a pullback, another threat.

Three of Trump's core stated war aims — Iran abandoning its nuclear program, halting ballistic missile development, and ending support for Iran's proxy forces in Gaza, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen — remain unmet. Iran's response to this latest pause from the White House was hardly conciliatory. "Our armed forces' fingers are on the trigger, while diplomacy is also continuing," Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on state television.

Iran's leverage over the Strait Central to the impasse is the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas moved before the conflict began. Iran's effective closure of the waterway, even as the U. continues to enforce its own blockade on Iranian ports, has sent energy prices higher worldwide and created a direct problem for American consumers.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.