Trump on Iran: ‘They might be tapping us along – they can’t have a nuclear weapon’

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated that he won’t allow the Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons, while expressing dissatisfaction with the pace of the nuclear talks that began last Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a visit from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Trump warned that the regime would have to “solve their problem very quickly.”

“Iran wants to deal with us, but they don’t know how. We had a meeting with them on Saturday. We have another meeting scheduled next Saturday, I said, ‘that’s a long time,’ so I think they might be tapping us along,” said Trump.

Following last Saturday’s talks in Oman, the Iranian Foreign Ministry described them as “constructive and based on mutual respect.”

It was also reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had a brief, direct conversation upon exiting the talks which lasted some 45 minutes, according to Axios.

Noteworthy: Today President Trump said he has the feeling that #Iran's regime is "tapping us along;" expressed impatience with Tehran; and threatened to strike its nuclear program. pic.twitter.com/BGCo2GpaFf

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) April 14, 2025

Witkoff later also briefed Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on the talks, an Israeli official told the news outlet Axios, amid Israeli concerns over the diplomatic overture to the regime.

A source with knowledge also told Axios that the talks with Iran were “substantive, serious and excellent,” while Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I think they’re going OK. Nothing matters until you get it done. So, I don’t like talking about it. But it’s going OK. The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think.”

On Monday, Trump appeared to assuage Israeli concerns by doubling down that “Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon – they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

In his latest swipe at the preceding Biden administration, he continued, “I think they’re tapping us along because they’re so used to dealing with stupid people in this country. I had Iran perfect, you had no attacks, you would never have had Oct. 7 in Israel, the attack by Hamas, because Iran was broke. They were stone-cold broke when I was President.”

However, Trump ended his comments with a threat after a lone conciliatory remark towards Iran: “I don’t want to do that. I want them to be a rich, great nation. The only thing is, one thing, simple, they can’t have a nuclear weapon, and they got to go fast, because they’re fairly close to having one.”

“They’re not gonna have one, and if we have to do something harsh, we’ll do it,” Trump added.

“I’m not doing it for us, I’m doing it for the world, and these are radicalized people, and they can not have a nuclear weapon.”

According to Axios, the next round of talks will be held in Rome, following an American initiative to change the venue.

However, Kasra Aarabi, an Iran expert at the think tank United Against Nuclear Iran, reported that Iran has also been pushing to involve Italy in the talks.

“A source tells me the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pushing for Italy’s involvement in negotiations for some time now to diminish the E3’s (UK, Germany & France) active role in talks. Another tells me Tehran has calculated [that] E3 will activate snapback by June/July,” Aarabi wrote on 𝕏.

In the meantime, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is expected to visit Tehran this week.

The U.S. is also expecting Iran to take concrete measures to step back from the imminent weaponization of its nuclear program as a first step toward resolving the issue.

This could include “downblending” the regime’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade 60% enriched Uranium, which is enough for around six bombs, Axios reported.