Trump 'not satisfied' with Iran's new proposal; says truce 'terminated' hostilities, as War Powers deadline arrives

Though the United States and Iran have suspended hostilities since an April 8 ceasefire, the two countries remain at odds over a range of issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions and control over the Strait of Hormuz, and they have yet to agree to a second meeting, following a brief ​summit of senior officials in Islamabad last month.

Trump’s comments on Friday indicated the deadlock ‌over the two-month-old war is likely to persist.

He also conveyed to the US Congress his stance that the hostilities had “terminated” following a ceasefire with Iran as the deadline to get Congress’s approval for the war arrived.

The text of Iran’s new proposal was handed to Islamabad on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

Hours later, Trump spoke to reporters at the White House, saying, “At this moment, I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering.”

The US president said that the Iranian leadership was “disjointed”, “had a lot of problems” and “were not getting along with each other”.

“But we have just had a conversation with Iran. But I will say I am not happy,” he said.

Asked why he was unsatisfied with the Iranian offer, Trump said: “They’re asking for things that I can’t agree.” He gave no details.

The White House also declined to provide details on the proposal, but news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted amendments reintroducing Tehran’s nuclear programme into talks.

The changes reportedly include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites or resume activity there during negotiations.

Trump said Iran had “made strides” in negotiations, but added that there was “tremendous discord” in the Islamic republic’s leadership and warned: “I’m not sure if they ever get there.”

Trump was asked what he would do if there was no deal but refused to say whether he would launch more strikes.

“Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever — or do we want to try and make a deal? I mean, those are the options,” he said.

Trump added that he would “prefer not” to launch a huge offensive but added: “That’s the option: do we want to go in there heavy and just blast them away or do we want to do something?”

Addressing a rally in Florida, Trump again spoke on the matter.

“They’re not coming through with the kind of deal that we have to have, and we’re going to get this thing done properly,” Trump said. “We’re not going to leave early and have the problem arise.”

At the White House, he repeated his prediction that oil and gas prices would fall when the war ends.

Trump also said he had “great respect” for Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.

For his part, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was ready to pursue diplomacy if the United States changed what he called its “excessive approach, threatening rhetoric and provocative actions.”

However, Araghchi added in a post on his Telegram channel that “Iran’s armed forces remained ready to defend the country against ​any threat.”

On Thursday, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said diplomacy to end the US-Iran conflict was continuing, with Islamabad maintaining its role as a facilitator between the two sides despite an apparent impasse in talks.

Negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain stalled, with both holding firm positions even as a fragile ceasefire continues. The truce, initially brokered by Pakistan in April, has been extended to allow space for diplomacy, but officials acknowledge that the process faces serious sticking points.

Last month, Pakistan hosted the first high-level contact between Iran and the US in decades and mediated those meetings. However, with challenges in convening a second round, Islamabad has shifted back to its role as a facilitator and go-between.

Trump also argued on Friday that a ceasefire with Iran had “terminated” hostilities, as he sought to bolster his argument that he did not need lawmakers’ permission to continue the conflict.

In a letter to ‌congressional leaders on Friday, the deadline to come to Congress about the war, Trump said there had been no exchange of fire with Iran since the ceasefire. “The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated,” he said.

Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a US president can wage military action for only 60 days before ending it, asking Congress for ​authorization or seeking a 30-day extension due to “unavoidable military necessity regarding the safety of United States Armed Forces” while withdrawing forces.

The US president formally notified Congress of the US-Israeli war on Iran 48 hours after the first airstrikes two months ago, starting the 60-day clock that ends ​on May 1.

As the date approached, congressional aides and analysts said they expected the Republican president to sidestep the deadline. A senior Trump administration official had said on Thursday ​the administration’s view was that the War Powers law deadline did not apply.

Trump said he considered the War Powers law unconstitutional. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have contended the measure violated the Constitution because it sets limits on the president’s powers as commander-in-chief. Legal experts say the matter has not been decided by the courts.

“We had a ceasefire, so that ​gives you additional time,” Trump said during his talk at the White House on Friday.

Congressional Democrats, who have tried repeatedly to pass War Powers legislation ​that would force Trump to end the war or come to Congress for authorisation, dismissed that characterisation, saying there was nothing in the 1973 law allowing for a ceasefire.

They ‌also said ⁠that the continuing deployment of US ships blockading Iranian oil exports was evidence of continuing hostility, not a ceasefire.

“After 60 days of conflict, President Trump still does not have a strategy or way out for this poorly planned war,“ Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement calling the deadline “a clear legal threshold” for Trump to act.

In his letter to Congress, Trump acknowledged that the conflict may not be ​resolved. He said Iran still poses ​a “significant” threat to the United States ⁠and its armed forces.