At the U.N., Trump Asks Whether to Make a Deal With Iran "or Do I Annihilate the Islamic Republic and Do It Quickly" and Says Tehran Is "Waiting to See How I Do in the Midterm" — Hours Later Witkoff and Kushner Sit Down With Iran's Foreign Minister for Three Hours, and Tim Kaine Asks "Who Talks Like That?"
President Trump used his September 22, 2026 address to the 81st U.N. General Assembly to defend the nearly seven-month war with Iran and to frame its end as a choice he alone would make: a deal that would let Iran "rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before," or to "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly" and "drive them into hell with no chance of survival." He accused Tehran of stalling on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until after the November midterms, predicted an agreement "right after the election," and insisted the election "doesn't even enter my mind." The same speech called Cuba a failed state, announced that U.S. documents would refer to AI as "superintelligence," and vowed to "encourage it, not rein it in." Within hours, Trump told reporters that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had held "a very good meeting" lasting about three hours with an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the General Assembly, with another meeting expected soon. Witkoff called the mediated talks "promising" and "constructive." Iranian state media said Tehran used the meeting to lay out its conditions for reopening the strait: lifting the U.S. naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending the war on all "resistance fronts." Democrats had earlier called for Trump's removal after his April threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight." Sen. Tim Kaine, lead sponsor of the Senate's Iran war powers resolutions, answered the U.N. speech by asking "who talks like that?" The speech came as a CNN/SSRS poll found 71% of voters disapproving of Trump's handling of foreign affairs.
“This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING! Axios' story, like most others, is a HOAX, used only for purposes of satisfying their Trump Derangement Syndrome. They should withdraw this fake story, IMMEDIATELY! [Trump, responding to an Axios report that he had offered Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.]”