Report: CIA Director urges Trump to maintain 'no war, no deal' Iran strategy
CIA Director John Ratcliffe has advised US President Donald Trump against rushing into either a new military campaign or a diplomatic agreement with Iran, instead recommending that Washington maintain its economic pressure on Tehran, Axios reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the discussions. According to the report, Ratcliffe favors a “no war, no deal" strategy, arguing that continued economic hardship could force the Iranian regime to make additional concessions or generate sufficient domestic unrest to trigger a popular uprising.
A source with direct knowledge of the discussions told Axios that Ratcliffe had presented this assessment to Trump. The CIA declined to comment on the report. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly support maintaining the current approach, while Vice President JD Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff favor advancing negotiations toward an agreement. Trump told Axios that he had not established a timetable for deciding whether to resume military operations against Iran.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article never mentions the US midterm elections, or that Trump answered "no" when asked whether he was considering strikes after them. It says only that he had set no timetable. This outlet reported the day before that he was weighing strikes after the midterms. Times of Israel tied his oil price post to a midterm campaign in which energy prices were a top issue. Without this, a reader takes Trump's optimism and his talk of 'no rush' as a judgement about Iran alone, not a position taken on the eve of a vote.
How we know
- Times of Israel reported“Asked by reporters if he was considering striking Iran after the midterms”Vance says US ‘feeling pretty good about prospects’ of a deal with Iran; Trump: ‘It could happen!’ (opens in a new tab)
- Haaretz (English) reported“Trump says he is not considering strikes after Tuesday's midterms”Trump raises doubts about renewed attacks on Iran, says deal with Tehran possible (opens in a new tab)
- Arutz Sheva / Israel National News wrote earlier“Trump is considering another round of military strikes against Iran following Tuesday's midterm elections”Report: As he weighs Iran strikes after midterms, Trump questions Pentagon leadership (opens in a new tab)
“One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush. We crippled them financially. They have no money, no gasoline and their people are getting very tired of it," the President said. Despite the reported differences among his advisers, Trump indicated that diplomatic contacts with Tehran were continuing. “We are talking to them. It's going fine," he said. “There's less urgency [on the Iranian side] than you think there would be, but they want to make a deal more than they ever wanted."
Separately on Monday, Trump expressed optimism that Washington and Tehran could reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end Iran's nuclear program. In a post on Truth Social, the President linked falling oil prices to expectations that renewed large-scale fighting could be avoided. "Oil Prices are DROPPING LIKE A ROCK, down almost $10 a Barrel, A RECORD, because people feel that there will not be a War with Iran. Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible.
It could happen!" Trump wrote. Earlier, speaking to reporters at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, Trump reiterated his belief that Iran was interested in reaching an agreement. “They want to make a deal. And it could happen." He also maintained that the United States had already achieved its military objectives against Tehran. "We had a war with Iran. We won, and I don't even know if you can call it a war because we haven't been fighting for months," Trump said, adding, "It’s not a war.
We’ve done very little fighting. We've wiped out their military and air force and we did everything we had to do." Meanwhile, Vance confirmed Monday that negotiations had made progress and said both he and Trump remained optimistic about the possibility of a settlement. Speaking at Joint Base Andrews, the Vice President said he had discussed the negotiations with Trump approximately an hour earlier. "We've had a number of good conversations with the Iranians," Vance said.
"I actually spoke with the President of the United States about this an hour ago." "The President and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. We're going to keep on working at it. You never know, of course. The Iranians are always a little unpredictable, and as the President always says, he retains kinetic options, he retains non-kinetic options," he added. "We've certainly made some progress.
We'll see if we can make some more," Vance said. Asked whether Washington had imposed a deadline for Iran to reach an agreement before additional American strikes, Vance said no deadline had been established. "No, we haven't set deadlines. I mean, look, we've said, 'Here's what we want.' And what we want is, having destroyed their nuclear program, we want to make sure they don't rebuild it or try to rebuild it. That's what matters most to the United States."
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