Trump says Iran is 'not very reliable' and points to Pickaxe Mountain site

US President Donald Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, that negotiations with Iran were "going fine" while describing the Islamic Republic as "not very reliable", The Times of Israel reported. Hebrew-language outlets carried the same remarks, adding that Trump complained Iran agrees to a deal and then walks away from it. Ynet's alerts channel rendered this as Iran making a deal and then retreating, while N12's foreign desk rendered it as making a deal and then going back on it.

A reporter also asked Trump whether he intended to renew the war as early as this week. According to N12, he called it a stupid question and asked whether, if the answer were yes, he would really say so. The Times of Israel reported that Trump also said the United States still needed to deal with "one or two sites" in Iran, adding: "we can do that in 10 minutes". He named Pickaxe Mountain as one place that would have to be addressed.

Where Trump spoke

The Times of Israel illustrated its report with an Associated Press photograph dated October 31, 2026, showing the president attending a Halloween event at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate. The outlet said the remarks were made to reporters in Palm Beach, the town where the estate is located.

What Pickaxe Mountain is

According to The Times of Israel, Western intelligence agencies have identified Pickaxe Mountain as a site that is likely being used to store nuclear material. The outlet said the United States had not yet struck the site during the war. Trump's reference to it was the only specific location he named in the remarks as reported, and it came alongside his assertion that the remaining work could be done very quickly.

The war and the talks

All of the reports refer to "the war" between the United States and Iran without describing it further, and to negotiations under way alongside it. Trump's comments combined two messages: that diplomacy was proceeding acceptably, and that Iran could not be counted on to honour agreements. His refusal to answer whether fighting would resume this week left the question open rather than ruling anything in or out.

The Times of Israel's live coverage on the same day also listed a separate item, attributed to The Wall Street Journal, stating that Trump had held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid preparations to renew strikes on Iran. That item was presented as a headline in the liveblog, and the material available here does not include the details of the Journal's report or confirm what was discussed on the call.

About the outlets

Ynet is the news website of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, and its Telegram channel posts short breaking alerts. N12 is the news brand associated with Israel's Channel 12, and its foreign desk posted the Trump quotes in Hebrew on its Telegram channel. One of N12's posts on the question about renewing the war was later republished in a marked edited version, with slightly altered wording in the framing but the same quote. The Times of Israel is an English-language Israeli news site that carried the fuller account in its liveblog.

Translation differences

Trump spoke in English, and the Hebrew outlets translated his words. Ynet and N12 used different Hebrew verbs for what Iran does after reaching a deal, which is why the English renderings above differ slightly. The exact English wording of that phrase, and of his answer to the question about renewing the war, does not appear in the English-language report available here, so the version given above is a translation of the Hebrew rather than his precise words.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports explains which deals Trump believes Iran agreed to and then abandoned, or when. They do not identify the second site, beyond Pickaxe Mountain, that he suggested might need to be dealt with, nor what "take care of" would involve. They do not name the reporter who asked about renewing the war, give the state of the negotiations in any detail, or include any response from Iran. The reported preparations to renew strikes rest on a single liveblog item attributed to The Wall Street Journal, which has not been seen directly here.