U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the war with Iran could end immediately after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, while signaling possible diplomatic openings on both Tehran and the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters before traveling to Dallas, Texas, for the Republican Party's first midterm convention, Trump claimed Iran was seeking to influence the elections and could not sustain the conflict much longer.
"I think the war will end immediately after the election because they can't hold out any longer," Trump said.
Asked about the possibility of renewed nuclear negotiations with Tehran, Trump said his administration was not actively pursuing talks but did not rule them out.
"We're not looking for it. Yes, a negotiation could possibly happen, but it's not something we're looking at," he said.
Trump said any potential agreement with Tehran would extend beyond its nuclear program, suggesting other issues would also be included in negotiations.
"There is a lot more than nuclear," he said.
He also said recent U.S. strikes in the Strait of Hormuz had incapacitated about nine Iranian tankers and suggested further military action could follow.
Trump separately struck an optimistic tone on efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian leader was "wanting to make a deal."
Trump described his conversation with Putin as "good" and said a trilateral meeting involving Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "could happen."
"If Zelenskyy is wanting to make a deal, that'd be very nice," Trump said.
His comments followed visits to Moscow and Kyiv last weekend by U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, though no significant breakthrough toward ending the war has been announced.
The Kremlin said Putin told Trump that Moscow had no "aggressive plans" toward Europe and provided the U.S. president with an assessment of developments on the battlefield.
Putin also outlined what he believed Washington could do to help bring the fighting to an end, according to Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Washington has stepped up mediation efforts since Trump's return to the White House, including a meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska last year.
