President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, May 20, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Monday shrugged off the possible collapse of peace negotiations with Iran, telling CNBC, «I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.»
«I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,» Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone interview midday Monday, saying he thought the protracted talks «started to get very boring.»
Trump had been asked about reporting that Iranian negotiators will stop communications with the U.S., and that Tehran will move to «completely block» the Strait of Hormuz, due to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.
Trump said that he was «going to ask» Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu «what’s going on with Lebanon.» Reuters reported later Monday afternoon that Trump spoke with Netanyahu on the phone.
The president also said he wasn’t worried about oil prices, which spiked following the report earlier Monday in Iranian state media.
«I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance,» Trump said.
But he also insisted that Americans who understand the importance of halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions will not mind higher gas prices as a result of the war.
«Once you explain that this is all about Iran having a nuclear weapon, people are willing to pay a little bit more,» he said.
Trump asserted that prices at the pump will drop «very quickly.» But he also repeatedly signaled he was in no hurry to restart the stalled negotiations with Iran.
«If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring,» Trump told CNBC.
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