Trump Tells Iran: Make a Deal Before It Is Too Late

The U.S. President said that Tehran now had to come to the table to ’save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.’

President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on June 12, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

In his first comments since Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Islamic Republic to reach a nuclear deal “before it is too late.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he had given Iran “chance after chance” to make a deal, but “they just couldn’t get it done.”

“I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it,” he wrote.

Trump added that hardliners in Tehran had “spoke bravely” but said that they didn’t know what was about to happen.

“They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!” he wrote.

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

In a later post, Trump added: “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ’make a deal.' They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”

He also told ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl he thought the Israeli attacks had been “excellent.”

“We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it,” Trump said, adding that Iran “got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come. A lot more.”

Officials from Tehran and Washington are due to begin the sixth round of talks regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in Muscat, Oman, on Sunday.

Overnight, Israel launched large-scale strikes against the Islamic Republic, saying it had targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders as part of an operation to prevent Tehran building an atomic bomb.

Iran promised harsh retaliation, and Israel later said it was in the process of trying to intercept some 100 drones launched toward its territory.

Officials in Washington have said that the United States was not involved in the attack.

Trump’s comments struck a different tone from many other leaders and diplomats who have spoken in the wake of the strikes.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on the alliance to push for de-escalation in the Middle East during a joint news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm.

“This was a unilateral action by Israel. So I think it is now crucial for many allies, including the United States, to work, as we speak, to de-escalate,” he said. “I know they’re doing that. And I think that is now the first order of the day.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed those sentiments.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, Starmer said: “The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region.”

German Chancellor Freidrich Merz said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed him about the strike against Iran during a phone call.

He said Israel had a right to defend itself, but called on “both sides to refrain from steps that could lead to further escalation and destabilize the entire region,” according to Welt.

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also urged “maximum restraint” and immediate de-escalation.

“A diplomatic resolution is now more urgent than ever, for the sake of the region’s stability and global security,” she wrote on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated in an X post Paris’s condemnation of the Iranian nuclear program and affirmed that Israel had the right to defend itself.

He said that in light of the attacks, he had convened France’s National Security Council and said that the country “stands ready to work with all its partners to push for deescalation in the Near and Middle East.”

Macron has recently been critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and this week revealed he received a letter from Palestinian Authority leader Mahmood Abbas that he said contained “unprecedented commitments that demonstrate a genuine willingness to move forward.”

France is currently preparing to co-chair a U.N. conference on Palestinian statehood with Saudi Arabia in New York set to begin next week.