Trump has extended the deadline to strike Iran's infrastructure three times and now he says the Tuesday at 8 pm ET deadline is the final one. I'm not sure that statement carries much credibility in markets but time will tell.
Trump also said that the war could end 'very quickly' if if Iran "does the things it needs to do". He also said the people negotiating are reasonable and not as radicalized.
In terms of goals, he seems to be shifting on those once again and saying that the war is about one-thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
That does seem to be an area where Iran is willing to give ground so we will see how this goes. Trump also said that "if I had my choice, I would take the oil" but that American people want to see us come home. He added that he'd like to see "us win and come home."
Trump also said that the latest Iran proposal was a big step but not good enough.
The headline here isn't great for risk but all the context is positive as it continues to sound like he wants to make a deal.
In terms of the report about Trump arming insurgents, he said that the guns were supposed to go to protesters but a certain group of people just kept them. He said he's upset about that and there will be a big price for that.
It's speculated these were either Kurds or some ISIS fighters that were removed from Syria.
As Trump continued he said the US could leave 'right now' but that he wants to 'finish it up' and that 'hopefully it will be over quickly'.
Update: Trump is again doing the rounds so it's hard to imagine in the 1 pm speech there will be anything new:
- Trump says that striking Iran's infrastructure wouldn't be a war crime "because they are animals"
- I've given them chances and they haven't taken them
- Iran would like to have a ceasefire because they're getting obliterated
- It's 'highly unlikely' he will extend deadline
- We got regime change, they are more moderate
Meanwhile, CNN reports that roughly half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in Iran's arsenal despite US and Israeli strikes against military targets.
