President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations in June aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.
The U.S. and Iran have nonetheless continued to exchange strikes, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz the primary flashpoint.
Asked at an Oval Office event whether he’s run out of “patience” with Oman, President Donald Trump responded, “I don’t think they’ve behaved very well, but we’d handle them very easily, just like we do others.”
Trump said again on Monday that U.S. control of the Strait of Hormuz — a pitch he floated last week — is a “great idea,” while continuing to insist that Iran’s military is “totally defeated.”
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, August 17, 2026.
Trump also claimed that the U.S. controls the Strait already.
“We control it with the blockade. And, I like the idea of declaring it a territory,” Trump said.
Asked whether he was seeking an extension on the 60-day memorandum of understanding the U.S. signed with Iran on June 17– an agreement now expiring — Trump shook his head and mouthed “no.”
Asked whether he’s any closer to reaching a deal with Iran that would end their nuclear program, Trump said the Iranians “want to make a deal, but they’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary.”
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
A reporter asked President Donald Trump on Monday if there was enough food aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Navy aircraft carrier deployed to the Middle East, after reports surfaced suggesting the families of the servicemembers have raised concerns.
Trump responded there is enough food and blasted the reports as “fake news.”
US Navy – PHOTO: U.S. sailors carry chocks and chains on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, May 24, 2026.
Trump also claimed that the Lincoln, which is marking a near-record-setting modern deployment as it has been out for over 260 days, hasn’t been out as long as ships have been in the past.
“The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time, good period of time. But over the years we’ve had them out there much longer,” Trump began.
US Navy – PHOTO: An F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron and an EA-18G Growler, attached to Electronic Attack Squadron 133, launch from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, May 9, 2026.
“I was at a group meeting and an admiral came up to see me over the weekend, and it was at a big group, and he happened to be an admiral, retired. He said, ‘I’ve been on ships. They’re out there much longer than that, sir.’ And I know people on the Lincoln. They say it’s beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of,” he said.
On Friday, Trump said the Lincoln hasn’t been deployed for “nearly long enough.”
Democrats are demanding an investigation into the conditions aboard the Lincoln after reports of low morale among sailors during the extended mission.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he believes the U.S. is “in the process” of “resolving” the Iran war.
“The Iran conflict has been the cause, of course, of gas prices going up. It’s drug on,” Johnson said during a campaign visit in Virginia.
“I believe ultimately that we’ll be, there’ll be a coalition of nations, a combination of allied NATO allies and Arab states in the region. Everybody in the world has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz being open for commerce, and so I believe we’ll be getting into a new phase of that, where we can calm this down,” Johnson said.
“That will hold gas prices down to planet Earth, and that will also bring down grocery prices,” he said.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
The Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen said on Monday they launched a series of new attacks against the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government forces of Yemen.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in statements posted to Telegram that Houthi forces struck several Saudi military boats off the coast of the Red Sea port of Mocha, which is held by the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces.
Saree said the group used ballistic missiles to target, “a military landing craft belonging to Saudi enemy forces — along with four accompanying gunboats.”
Saree later said that the Houthis had also targeted an arms depot in the Marib region, east of the capital Sanaa, using drones.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Hours before President Donald Trump told Fox News of a backchannel between the U.S. and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei denied a weekend Axios report suggesting that Iraqi Kurdish authorities were acting as mediators between Washington and top IRGC commanders.
Baqaei described the report as “a media tactic and psychological operation” intended to sow division among Iran’s decision-making bodies. “Such actions are carried out of desperation,” he said.
“The report of a secret meeting between Iran and the United States in Erbil is completely fabricated,” Baqaei said in his media presser Monday morning, as quoted by the state-run to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
President Donald Trump threatened the Sultanate of Oman — a longtime U.S. strategic partner and traditionally a key interlocutor in Middle Eastern negotiations — on Monday, saying he will “bomb the s—” out of the country if it “gets in the way” of U.S. objectives in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also noted that there was no hurry on his part to conclude the war with Iran as the 60-day U.S.-Iranian memorandum of understanding expires.
In an interview with Fox News’ Trey Yingst, Trump was asked about the status of talks between Iran and Oman over a potential deal regarding the Strait of Hormuz. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s— out of them,” the president replied, according to Fox News’ write-up.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo – PHOTO: President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One, on, Aug. 16, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Monday that talks between the two countries were “continuing in earnest.”
Trump’s latest comments mark the second time Trump has threatened Oman over control of the Strait. In May, Trump told ABC News’ Rachel Scott during a cabinet meeting that the Strait must not come under any nation’s control and that he would take military action against Oman if necessary.
Trump also told Fox News that the U.S. was directly backchanneling with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “They’re good poker players, but they’re dying,” Trump said of the IRGC. “I have no time schedule. I’m not in a hurry,” he added.
Trump again dismissed concerns over U.S. munitions stockpiles. “What we’ve used so far is peanuts,” Trump told Fox News.
-ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr and Justin Gomez
Two sources told ABC News on Monday that the planned meeting between President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was underway in Jerusalem.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
President Donald Trump said in a post to social media on Monday that his “number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon.”
With the 60-day window for U.S.-Iran talks nearing its end — as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two combatants in June — the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday that the deadline is now “irrelevant” because the talks never began.
Esmaeil Baqaei said that under the MoU, the 60-day period was intended to give the two sides time to discuss “the nuclear issue” and “the lifting of sanctions,” according to a readout published by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Baqaei said the 60-day window could be extended if the parties failed to reach an agreement within that timeframe.
However, Baqaei accused the U.S. of violating the terms of the MoU and thus preventing the start of talks. Therefore, he said, “the 60-day discussion is no longer relevant.”
On Iran-Oman talks over the future of the Strait of Hormuz, Baqaei said the two countries had agreed on a “navigation map,” but that the text of the final agreement is still being finalized.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
President Donald Trump on Sunday applauded a recently signed defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, saying that the deal “shows how the Middle East is coming together.”
“Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement,” Trump wrote, adding that this will allow the countries to “defend themselves in a more meaningful way.”
“THIS IS A BIG, BOLD, AND IMPORTANT FIRST STEP — WOW!” Trump wrote.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement,” under which the signatories said they would treat an attack on one country as an attack on all three.
The deal builds on a September 2025 mutual defense agreement signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted to X thanking Trump for his “courageous and decisive leadership” that helped in averting “nuclear catastrophe in South Asia and saved millions of lives.”
Sharif said that all three signatory countries will “continue to play a constructive role in ensuring the defence of our own countries as well as the entire region.”
-ABC News’ Emily Chang and Habibullah Khan