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<\/a><\/p>\nPresident Donald Trump speaks during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026, in Ankara, Turkey. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s over. I don\u2019t want to deal with them anymore,\u201d Trump told reporters in Ankara, Turkey, where he is attending the NATO summit. \u201cThey\u2019re scum. You know what scum is? They\u2019re scum. They\u2019re sick people. They\u2019re led by sick people, and they\u2019re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they\u2019d use it. As far as I\u2019m concerned, it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, the president did not appear to rule out further negotiations with Iran, adding, \u201cI\u2019ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s comments came hours after the military\u2019s U.S. Central Command announced Tuesday evening that it had launched a \u201cseries of powerful strikes against Iran\u201d in retaliation for Iran hitting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Following the U.S. strikes, Iran targeted dozens of U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, according to the Iranian Fars news outlet. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the initial response to the US aggression, the naval and aerospace forces of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, in a joint missile and drone operation, struck 85 locations of important US military facilities,\u201d the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The exchange of fire further imperiled the shaky ceasefire between the United States and Iran, as well as negotiations with Iran that were supposed to resume after the dayslong funeral for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ended Thursday.<\/p>\n
Following Trump\u2019s announcement, the price of oil jumped to its highest level in weeks.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cancelled a planned visit to Israel Wednesday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to media reports.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding last month to halt military operations and establish a 60-day framework for the sides to reach a deal on Iran\u2019s nuclear program and other sticking points.<\/p>\n
Following Tuesday\u2019s U.S. strikes, Iran\u2019s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the United States of violating the Memorandum of Understanding, including \u201cContinued Zionist aggression on [Lebanon]\u201d in a post on X. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don\u2019t fold,\u201d Ghalibaf wrote.<\/p>\n
During Trump\u2019s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday, the president also signalled that he would likely restore the country\u2019s ability to purchase F-35 fighter jets, a move that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staunchly opposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cTurkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal,\u201d Trump said when asked if he is going to sell the jets to Turkey, according to Axios. \u201cSo it is something we definitely would consider.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hegseth\u2019s scrapped meeting with Netanyahu was widely expected to touch upon the idea of U.S. selling the advanced stealth plane to Turkey.<\/p>\n