WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump sought to downplay the potential collapse of peace talks with Iran, saying the negotiations “started to get very boring” and that he “couldn’t care less” if the talks are over.
Trump made the remarks in a June 1 interview with CNBC when asked about reports from Iranian state media that Iran’s negotiators halted communications with the U.S. in response to Israel’s intensifying military campaign in Lebanon.
“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly,” Trump said. “I really don’t care.”
Iran war news: Iran suspends US talks over Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, state media says
See the trail of devastation and grief left by the Iran War that began on Feb. 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes, known as Operation Epic Fury, targeting Iranian military and government sites.
Pictured here, people look at the damages at the site of an Israeli strike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, on May 28, 2026. The Israeli military said on May 28 it had begun new strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure around the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after issuing an evacuation warning to its residents.
(KAWNAT HAJU, AFP via Getty Images)
(JACK GUEZ, AFP via Getty Images)
(Marko Djurica, REUTERS)
The setback in negotiations comes just days after Trump and other administration officials suggested the U.S. was nearing a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extend a ceasefire by 60 days.
“If they’re over, they’re over,” Trump told CNBC. “If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring.”
JD Vance: Trump and Iran ‘very close’ to agreeing to deal
For weeks, Trump has insisted Iran wants to make a deal with the U.S. after the Trump administration began its military campaign in Iran with airstrikes on Feb. 28.
Although the price of oil rose on news of Iran halting negotiations, Trump told CNBC he wasn’t worried about the rising costs. “I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance,” he told the television network.
Tasnim news agency in Iran on June 1 said Tehran’s negotiating team would stop communicating with Washington through mediators in protest of Israel’s widening ground invasion and bombardment of Lebanon, where it is battling Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Despite his remarks to CNBC, Trump later seemed to counter any suggestions that negotiations with Iran have stalled. “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president said in a post on Truth Social that appeared to be made after his interview.
Earlier, Trump said leaders of Israel and Hezbollah informed him they plan to stop fighting. Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relayed in a phone call that no Israeli troops will be going to Beirut and any troops on their way have been ordered back to Israel.
“Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel,” Trump said.
More: Trump ends Iran meeting without announcing ‘final determination’ on deal
Speaking to NBC News, Trump said he had not heard from Iranian officials that they’re suspending talks but added that he would welcome silence. “I think we’ve been talking too much if you want to know the truth,” he told the outlet. “I think going silent would be very good, and that could be for a long time.”
Vice President JD Vance last week cited Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium as the main sticking points in negotiations. Trump has said repeatedly that Iran must dispose of its enriched uranium and end its nuclear program as part of any deal. But Iranian leaders have previously called its right to uranium enrichment non-negotiable.
