Trump says Iran war is 'very close to being over' as Hormuz blockade continues

With US & Israeli ceasefire with Iran set to expire next week, focus is on renewed talks

U.S. President Donald Trump says the Iran war is “close to over” in a new interview with Fox News, as the current ceasefire is set to expire next week.

In a preview clip, showing excerpts of the interview he taped with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” President Trump says, “I think it’s close to over.”

In the interview, host Maria Bartiromo asked the president about his use of the past tense to describe the war: “Mr. President, you refer to war as 'was' — is it over?”

In response, President Trump said, “I think it’s close to over, yeah. I mean, I view it as very close to over.”

The president appeared to be referring to the significant impact of the war on Iran, saying, “If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished. We’ll see what happens.”

“I think they want to make a deal very badly,” he added.

Trump has declared a U.S. victory in Iran several times throughout the war, including mere days after the war started.

Currently, the U.S. and Israel have agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, which appears to be holding, despite Washington increasing pressure on Iran with its recently imposed blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, several news outlets reported on Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran could restart negotiations toward an end to the conflict, after Vice President JD Vance left talks in Pakistan over the weekend without an agreement.

Before leaving, Vance declared that no deal had been reached following a 21-hour intense session of direct talks between the two sides, saying, “The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America.”

Vance later shared with Fox News’ Bret Baier that the U.S. delegation left after realizing the Iranian delegation lacked sufficient authority to make decisions.

“I do think that we acquired some knowledge about how the Iranians are negotiating,” Vance said. “And this is ultimately why we left Pakistan, because what we figured out is that they were unable, I think, the team that was there was unable to cut a deal. And they had to go back to Tehran, either from the Supreme Leader or somebody else, and actually get approval to the terms that we had set.”

However, on Tuesday, Trump indicated that the deadlocked situation could change. Speaking to ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, he reportedly said, “I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead.”

President Trump told me today he isn't thinking about extending the ceasefire. He doesn't think it will be necessary.

"I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead," he said. "I really do."

I asked if the war ends with a deal, or "do you just say, look, we…
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) April 15, 2026

Trump also repeated his previous claims to have already enacted regime change, saying, “It could end either way, but I think a deal is preferable because then they can rebuild. They really do have a different regime now. No matter what, we took out the radicals. They’re gone, no longer with us.”

Trump made a similar comment to the New York Post, telling the outlet that its reporters in Pakistan should “stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there.”

He also didn’t give any other indication what could have led to a renewal of the talks, and has previously said that he did not care whether the Iranians came back to the negotiating table.

“I don’t care if they come back or not. If they don’t come back, I’m fine,” he told reporters on Monday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military has completed its blockade of vessels to and from Iranian ports, Central Command (CENTCOM) reported.

CENTCOM head Admiral Brad Cooper said early Wednesday, “A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East.”