President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, right, listen. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Trump warns Iran that more warships are steaming toward the Middle East, adding that “bad things” will happen if upcoming talks fail to produce an agreement.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
President Donald Trump warned Iran on Monday that the United States is deploying additional warships to the Middle East, adding that if the upcoming negotiations between the two countries fail to achieve a breakthrough, “bad things” will happen.
The president spoke with reporters in the Oval Office, fielding questions regarding the planned summit in Istanbul this Friday between White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and representatives of the Iranian regime.
Trump emphasized that the United States is simultaneously pursuing talks, in the hope that a diplomatic solution can be found, while also preparing for a possible military confrontation, saying that additional US Navy vessels are en route to Iran.
“We are talking about that. We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones, the biggest and the best. And we have talks going on with Iran. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump said.
Last week, the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and its battle group arrived in the Arabian Sea, significantly increasing American air assets in the Middle East.
“If we can work something out, that would be great, and if we can’t, probably bad things would happen,” Trump continued.
“I’d like to see a deal negotiated. I don’t know that that’s going to happen.”
Witkoff is slated to arrive in Israel on Tuesday, with talks scheduled with senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and the director of the Mossad, David Barnea.
According to a report published by The New York Times, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently sent a secret message to Russian President Vladimir Putin signaling that Iran is willing to hand over its enriched uranium stockpile in order to reach a new nuclear deal with the US.
Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the investigation as political persecution.
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