Trump Thinks Iran Deal ‘still Close’ Despite Retaliatory Strikes Over Downed Helicopter

President Donald Trump still thinks a peace deal with Iran is on the horizon, even as the United States launched retaliatory strikes on Iran Tuesday evening, a senior White House official said Tuesday.

“Nothing changes where the deal stands right now,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive national security information. The official stressed that a deal with Tehran was “still close.”

The U.S. strikes follow an Iranian attack over the weekend that downed a U.S. military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, but the president and U.S. Central Command stressed that America’s response was “proportional,” a notable departure from Trump’s previous threats to end Iranian civilization.

Even as fighting escalates, the Trump administration maintains that it's a mere bump in the road toward peace, not a resumption of hostilities.

But the two countries have been trading peace proposals for weeks without reaching an agreement, and Trump has said that a deal is near dozens of times. Early Tuesday morning, he told reporters that "we are close to a strong and powerful deal” and that the Strait of Hormuz could open after the signing “in two or three days.”

Vice President JD Vance was more circumspect in a CBS interview published Tuesday, saying the U.S. is “very close” to getting a deal with Iran — but that it could come “in the next week” or “months from now.”

Iranian leaders, for their part, have been far more belligerent, at least in public, warning the U.S. on Tuesday that it is prepared for more conflict.

“We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently. Break your commitments, and we'll switch to what we speak best,” Mohammad ⁠Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker, wrote on X.

Still, the senior White House official suggested that U.S. military action in response to the helicopter downing and ongoing negotiations to reopen the strait can coexist as “two different buckets.”

“There's a military bucket and then there's a negotiation bucket,” the official said. “A helicopter was downed yesterday. We have to respond in kind, but at the same time there's still a deal trying to be negotiated. So, two things can happen at the same time.”

The president has sporadically threatened additional military action since taking out Iran’s leadership in February. But, despite his threats, Trump hasn’t engaged in large-scale attacks. He has also told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on attacks, even after Iran struck Israel.

But some White House allies question the strategy of continuing diplomacy in this way even as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, raising global energy prices and disrupting the shipment of other needed commodities.

“Honestly, I’ve been surprised by that,” a person close to the White House said of Trump not launching another full-fledged attack on Iran. “I mean, not oblivion, but to bring them to their knees again. I’m not necessarily sure what the strategy is.”

“I worry it has to do with some of our military capabilities and if we were running through a lot of our munitions. Or he just truly doesn’t want to make the situation even more tense,” said the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal White House dynamics.

The senior White House official argued that the U.S. has achieved its “key objectives” with Iran and that “the military part” of the operation “is done.”

Now, the official said, the administration is in the second phase of a “negotiated deal and settlement” and “as always the president retains all options.”

Israel, which on Monday traded attacks with Iran, has also complicated negotiations. The president called Netanyahu and told him to hold off on striking beyond direct retaliation.

Trump confirmed last week that he called Netanyahu “crazy” over the phone in response to Israel’s ongoing fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is supposed to be included in a broader ceasefire with Iran.

The person close to the White House said the tension with Netanyahu is “overblown" and that he still “has a lot of allies in the White House.”

“Ultimately, I think the president and his national security team understand that they have very different objectives and very different security postures in the region. Obviously, the president is frustrated by that reality, but I don’t necessarily think he wants to hamstring Israel. The more Israel is under attack, the more U.S. involvement will ultimately take place,” the person said.

The senior White House official denied that the U.S. and Iran have different goals, but said the president is frustrated with Israel for escalating the conflict further with its actions in Lebanon while negotiations continue.

“President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement. “There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump. The Israel Defense Forces were incredible partners throughout Operation Epic Fury, which decimated the Iranian regime’s military capabilities in 38 short days.”