Trump says Iran war 'effectively over' militarily, wants a deal

Update, 10 November, 02:07 Israel time

A diplomat briefed on the White House meeting gave the first account of what Trump told Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in private. According to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing that diplomat, Trump made clear he wants a deal and intends to give the negotiations a chance, but warned that he could reverse course if the Iranians do not treat the talks seriously.

In a separate Hebrew-language post pointing to his report for N12, Ravid quoted Trump as saying that, in military terms, the war has "effectively ended" and that resuming it is "very unlikely." Those quotes are Ravid's Hebrew rendering. Earlier reports quoted Trump in English calling a renewed campaign "quite unlikely" and saying the war is "ending quickly"; the new wording goes further on whether the fighting is already over.

The Jerusalem Post also reported Trump's remarks that further military action does not seem necessary and that Tehran is in talks with Washington, consistent with the earlier accounts.

The diplomat's account remains the only description of the private exchange, and it is attributed to a single unnamed person. There is still no public response from Iran, Qatar or the other Gulf governments named by Trump.

Update, 10 November, 01:07 Israel time

Speaking at an impromptu White House press conference later on Monday, Trump said there was a "good chance" of a resolution ending the conflict with Iran and that Tehran was "talking very politely" with American negotiators, The Times of Israel reported.

A reporter asked why, if he had prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, he would not declare victory and bring US troops home from the region. Trump answered that Washington has great allies there who would be hurt by a pullout, and that the goal was a long-term solution rather than a short-term one. He said again that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and that the war is "ending quickly." The Times of Israel described his answer about allies as effectively acknowledging that Iran remains a threat, and noted that a reporter challenged him on having predicted an imminent end to the war for months.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid reported that Trump described a renewed military campaign against Iran as "quite unlikely" and said it "doesn't seem to be necessary." The Haaretz account cited earlier quoted him as saying such action did not seem necessary "at this point."

None of the new reports includes a response from Iran or from the Gulf governments Trump spoke for.

Update, 10 November, 00:08 Israel time

In a written readout posted on Truth Social after the meeting, Trump said renewed US military action against Iran now looks unlikely. The Times of Israel reported that he cited what he called positive momentum toward ending the conflict, and a wish among Gulf allies to avoid escalation in the meantime. Haaretz, drawing on Reuters, reported that Trump also told reporters such action did not seem necessary "at this point".

According to the text of the post shared by Axios reporter Barak Ravid, Trump named Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait as preferring the status quo, which he defined as keeping the naval blockade of Iran and a new operation he called Iron Gate, on land and at sea. He wrote that all agreed Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and called this non-negotiable. He said the US remains "locked and loaded" if developments change, and that Israel and the wider region are protected from Iranian threats.

The post identifies the Qatari official as Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whom the Times of Israel describes as a key mediator in the Iran talks. A source cited by Ravid said the White House meeting lasted about 45 minutes and focused on the Iran negotiations; a diplomat told him meetings with Trump and Vice President JD Vance were positive.

One Ynet alert described Qatar's preference as maintaining a blockade at Hormuz specifically; the full post refers to a naval blockade without that detail.

The story as first reported

US President Donald Trump said that Qatar and Saudi Arabia would prefer the conflict with Iran to end peacefully, while making clear that the United States is prepared to carry out military strikes again should it decide they are needed. The Times of Israel reported that Trump made the remarks in a short telephone interview with the Reuters news agency, on the same day he held a meeting with Qatar's prime minister.

According to the Times of Israel account, Trump said that "Qatar would rather see a peaceful solution," and added, on the question of strikes, that "we're ready to go anytime we want." The Jerusalem Post also reported the interview, describing Trump as saying that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar want the Iran war resolved peacefully and that the US stands ready to strike if that becomes necessary.

What the Israeli outlets reported

The remarks were picked up quickly by Hebrew-language news channels. News.co.il wrote on its Telegram channel that Trump spoke to Reuters after his meeting with Qatar's leader, that Doha favours a peaceful path with Iran, and that, in Trump's telling, Saudi Arabia also backs a diplomatic outcome. The same item said Washington remains prepared for military action if required, and headlined it as the US being ready for an immediate strike.

N12, a major Israeli television news outlet, carried a brief from its foreign desk saying that, following talks with Qatar's leader, Trump told Reuters that Qatar would prefer a peaceful solution with Iran but that the US is ready for strikes if there is a need. A second N12 post, marked as an edited version, repeated the same wording. The N12 items mention Qatar only and do not refer to Saudi Arabia.

Where the accounts differ

The reports agree on the core of what Trump said: a stated preference among Gulf partners for a peaceful outcome, paired with a stated US readiness to use force. They differ on two details.

• Who Trump met. The Times of Israel identifies the Qatari official as the country's prime minister. The Hebrew-language reports from News.co.il and N12 refer more generally to Qatar's leader, without specifying the title.
• Saudi Arabia's position. The Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and News.co.il all attribute to Trump a statement that Saudi Arabia, as well as Qatar, wants a peaceful resolution. The N12 posts mention only Qatar.

All of the outlets attribute the statements to Trump's conversation with Reuters. None of the reports provided here is itself the Reuters interview, so the exact sequence of Trump's words beyond the short quotes cited by the Times of Israel is not available in the material.

Why Qatar and Saudi Arabia matter here

Qatar, a small, gas-rich emirate on the Persian Gulf with its capital in Doha, and Saudi Arabia, the largest state on the Arabian Peninsula, are both close security partners of the United States and both sit across the Gulf from Iran. Their views on how a confrontation with Tehran should end carry weight in Washington because any escalation in the region bears directly on their own territory and economies.

The Times of Israel described the US as ready to resume military strikes, language that indicates American strikes on Iran have taken place earlier in this conflict. The Jerusalem Post referred to the situation as the Iran war. The reports do not describe the current state of fighting or diplomacy in detail.

For readers in Israel and abroad, the significance is the pairing of the two messages. Trump presented the Gulf states as preferring diplomacy, while signalling that the American military option has not been set aside. The reports do not indicate that Trump endorsed one course over the other.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a response from Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Iran to Trump's remarks, and it is not clear from the material whether the Qatari or Saudi governments have confirmed the positions Trump described on their behalf. The reports also do not say what was discussed in the meeting with the Qatari official beyond Iran, what conditions would lead the US to resume strikes, or whether any peace proposal is on the table. The discrepancy over whether Trump met Qatar's prime minister or another senior figure is not resolved in the material.