Donald Trump reportedly threatened the Iranian delegation during ongoing talks to end the war between the United States and Iran.
Iran has promised to close in response to any further Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Per Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, Trump called Iranian negotiators over the weekend and said that any closure of the critical shipping passage would lead to Iran’s destruction.
“You close it, and you won’t have a country,” Trump reportedly said. “You won’t even make it back to your f**king country.”
“You close it and you won’t have a country.” President Trump said he told Iranian officials about the Strait of Hormuz. “You won’t even make it back to your fu*king country.”
“We may take over the Strait, if we have to,” Trump said. “If they don’t make a deal, we’ll collect… pic.twitter.com/cErvdjCJmK
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) June 21, 2026
The United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week. Vice President JD Vance is currently in Switzerland, hoping to hammer out a long-term peace deal with Iranian officials. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has stated that he has no intention to halt his country’s nuclear enrichment program, a key point that the Trump administration wants Iran to concede.
Per Yingst, the hardline stance from Pezeshkian inspired more tough talk from Trump.
“He better watch his mouth or we’ll take over the rest of the country,” the president supposedly said.
Start your day with essential news from Salon.Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Top Republicans echoed Trump’s brute force boasting. Speaking to CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham speculated on a future where negotiations fell through. He said that the United States would take control of the Strait of Hormuz and charge a toll to pass through it.
“I think it’s going to fail,” he said. “President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force…If Iran contests control of the Strait of Hormuz, we’ll obliterate them.”
Graham added that the U.S. will attack Iran directly in response to any future Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
Watch that interview via YouTube below:
Read more
about this topic