Trump rules out deal with Iran, moves Vance off talks to probe Democratic-run states

US President Donald Trump has completely ruled out the possibility of an agreement with Iran. The US and Iran have been in confrontation for the past eight months, and it had been hoped that the dispute would be resolved through talks. Trump's decision came at just this point. Vice-President J.D. Vance, who had been leading the peace talks with Iran, has been removed from the effort with immediate effect.

Trump has now asked Vance to focus not on negotiations abroad but on those US states that have Democratic Party governments. He has directed him to conduct a deep investigation into alleged corruption and crime in states such as Minnesota, California and Illinois.

On Thursday, Trump made his position known on his social media platform Truth Social. He wrote, "America no longer needs a deal with Iran, those days are long gone. We have hundreds of billions of dollars of Iran's and their extremely important Strait of Hormuz." The post clearly signalled that the US is no longer in a mood to reach an agreement with Iran.

Trump claims that billions of dollars are being stolen every month in these Democratic states. He says that if this money were saved, the US budget deficit could fall rapidly. However, Trump has so far offered no concrete evidence to back these serious allegations.

A report had said that Vance was considering meeting Mohsen Rezaei, a senior Iranian security official, face to face to discuss ending the war. That report had not been independently confirmed. Even so, Trump announced the day after it appeared that Vance was being removed from the talks.

Earlier, in April 2026, Vance held talks with Iranian officials in Pakistan. In June the two countries reached a temporary ceasefire agreement, but it collapsed within a few weeks. Last month, Iranian state media claimed that Tehran had received a letter from Vance asking for talks to be restarted. Trump then said he had given Vance no such instruction. This points to internal differences in the White House over Iran policy.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the conditions set by Iran for a peace agreement "absurd". Speaking after talks with allied countries in Paris, Rubio said Iran has demanded about $270 billion as compensation for war damage, which President Trump will never accept. Trump has also claimed that Iran's economy is collapsing. He warned that he would not hold back from using military force if needed.

The US is currently tightening its naval blockade of Iranian ports and trying to keep the route open for international oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Tension in the region is at its peak. On Thursday, the Iranian military claimed that explosions were set off on four oil tankers that were moving ahead ignoring its warnings. Crude oil prices in the global market rose afterwards.

The results of the US midterm elections held last week are being seen as a major reason behind Trump's latest move. The Republican Party suffered a big setback against the Democratic Party in those elections. After the results, Vance openly acknowledged that the inflation and economic impact stemming from the eight-month Iran war had directly hurt the party's performance. He also defended his earlier advice to end the war quickly.

The US and Israel together began military action against Iran in February 2026. Trump has defended the war, saying the action was essential to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons. But the prolonged war had caused resentment among American voters. Political analysts believe that after the election defeat, Trump has devised a strategy to turn public attention away from the Iran war and towards domestic politics, namely the alleged corruption in Democratic states.