Posted on 10/26/2026 7:27:28 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he was deciding whether to “make a deal” with Iran or “finish it off” as investors weigh heightened tensions across the Middle East.
“Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? It’s getting to be decision time,” Trump said in a Fox News interview on Sunday.
Mediators from Qatar, which has played a key role in efforts to negotiate an agreement between Washington and Tehran, visited Tehran on Sunday, per Reuters. It comes as attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants on Saudi Arabia continued over the weekend. The last confirmed U.S. strikes on Iran were on Sept. 1. Trump previously said strikes would not resume until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Tehran says it is preparing a military response to any U.S. attacks.
A potential U.S. target could be Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried site linked to Iran’s nuclear program, Trump said in the Sunday interview. “We can read the badge on somebody’s shirt from space, okay? We know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe Mountain. We know the other three [nuclear sites] are obliterated,” Trump said.
Trump also repeated the claim that the U.S. controls the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global trade and a major flashpoint in the conflict, citing that crude oil flows have returned to pre-war levels. Energy prices nonetheless remain elevated amid the disruption and a global refining squeeze. Washington and Tehran have both repeatedly claimed they control the route, where overall trade flows remain severely curtailed, impacting consumer prices.
A Singapore-flagged container ship sank in the strait earlier this month after being struck by an unidentified projectile and catching fire. Iran Revolutionary Guard navy chief Ali Ozmaei said earlier this month that Tehran is “counting the moments” until it can sink American warships.
Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are meeting Iran’s leadership in Tehran on Monday. The three countries signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in August, committing to closer defense cooperation and stipulating that an armed attack against one member would be regarded as an attack against all. It is the first meeting of the group since Houthi missiles and drones targeted sites across Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh airport and an administrative building belonging to oil giant Saudi Aramco. Saudi Arabia last week postponed its flagship Future Investment Initiative conference until 2027 due to security concerns after a string of fatal strikes.
Soon, like Nov 4th maybe?
Is it just me....or does Trump NOT understand that Iranian and American strategic thinking on war diverge sharply in their core philosophy, definition of victory, and asymmetric methods.
While the United States traditionally relies on conventional dominance, technological superiority, and decisive battlefield victories, Iran views warfare through a lens of survival, prolonged attrition, and indirect regional influence.
He’s already ruled out making a deal, so it seems there’s only one choice left.
Not reacting “publicly” and not reacting are two different things.
Trump is waiting until after the election. He’s got that country thoroughly blockaded their economy is dying. Yes a dictatorship can allow its economy to die because they don’t really care about their people they only care about control and staying alive themselves. However, the blockade weakens them and it encourages others to rebel against them internally. I don’t believe a single American Service member has died in many weeks. The president is choking that country without loss of American Life.
Is this why the US bombardment of Iran did not have the desired results?
Apparently, the average Iranian’s “disapproval of government” does not automatically translate to support for foreign intervention or military strikes.
When external conflicts or military escalations occur, Iranians feel resentment toward their govt’s domestic oppression ..........while simultaneously feeling protective anger over other countries’ attacks on their country’s civilian infrastructure.
Caesar hath spoken. Again.
But Caesar seemeth to change his mind every 15 minutes.
He poses this qustion, not for the regimes sake. He does it to get the opinions of U.S. citizens. So, President Trump, I vote for finishing the job, not only for the sake of Iranian citizens, but again for the world at large. The world does not need teir constant threats as well as acttual violence.
We have had many presidents since Iran was invaded, and thse invaders have been allowed to sow utter chaos across the Middle East, as well as, the world at large for 47 years.
Perhaps you also believe we should allow them to have nuclear weapons as well?
He should have finished it six months ago when we had them on the ropes. Gas prices would be back down, and the American public could have celebrated a military victory - this first since 1945. The art of the deal doesn’t work with irrational people. Should have used overwhelming military might to bomb them into submission. Or perhaps thought longer about the absolute deal for military action if he wanted to negotiate. Just like tariffs. The Wall Street Journal calculated that nearly all of the inflation we’re feeling is coming from tariffs and oil prices. This mess has been self-inflicted and the results next Tuesday will show.
IN LATE MARCH
Perhaps neither is the goal. Perhaps he is waiting for a third option to occur.
Two weeks to flatten the Iranian Caliphate.....
There is no finishing off crazy muslims. They are taught to fight to the last revolutionary guard. I guess he, like former Presidents, doesn’t understand the Muslim mentality.
No deal...Period end of story. This is not the proverbial fork in the road, it is a knife pointed directly at us.
This is the equal of having someone raise your three aces showing. Time to go all in or admit you made a grand error and fold.
I think we should make iran a Stone Age country for a decade as an example to others.
Bomb the bridges and electricity turbines.
It’s not even clear who you’re making a deal with. Anyway, most deals made in the fog of war end up being broken.
Finish it off?? What will he do, nuke the entire country and kill 90 million people? Unthinkable.
The Muslims have been at it for 1,400 years. I think the best we can strategize for is containment. We did achieve something with the destruction of of the mountain bomb making fortress, at least slowing the nuclear program down for years.
I’m confused and TIRED of his constant jabbering like this!!
Do it or don’t!!!!!
He’s just torquing people off now, even his supporters!!!
We can probably “finish them off” in four or five years.
Nuking cities won’t do it. That’s not where they are.
Nuking every mountain in a country 2.5 times the size of Texas might do it.
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