US President Donald Trump has been having very fruitful discussions on how to end the ongoing Iran War, or so he says. However, it is confounding that his war partner, Israel, is apparently not aware of such negotiations.
The country under attack, Iran, is apparently unaware of such negotiations as well. So, with whom is Trump talking?
Trump’s Henchmen are Keeping Mum
Normally, the US President has a cohort of supporters ready to echo his statements and defend his positions, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. This time, nobody is talking.
That may probably be because they realize the mess the US is in. Trump attacked Iran on February 28th, 2026, without a word to either Congress or NATO, and things have been going from bad to worse.
The US is spending money Congress never anticipated, and rising oil prices threaten to drive the world into a recession.
Is Trump Trying to Throw Hegseth Under the Bus?
Trump has ignored the denial from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard that Iran is talking with the US, and told journalists at the White House that he is happy with Iran’s input in the ongoing peace talks.
He cited Iran’s promise not to make nuclear weapons in the future, yet nobody has so far seen any evidence of nuclear weapons in Iran.
As if to lend credence to his assertion about peace talks, Trump told the media that the US is represented in the discussions by “Marco” and “J.D.” These two are presumably the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Vice-President J. D. Vance. A few days ago, Trump told journalists that Iran was engaging with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in the negotiations geared towards ending the war.
In yesterday’s engagement with the media, Trump added that when he informed his Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, of his intention to wrap up the war, Hegseth seemed disappointed.
While Vance has always prided himself on having been on a presidential ticket strongly opposed to waging wars, Hegseth seems different.
Hegseth is the same person who fired his senior advisor last year, who later said in an interview that he and Hegseth differed on the Middle East issue. This same advisor has been rehired, even as the war continues, in a closer advisory role to the president.
No Elections and No Coup in Iran
Iranians may have their differences, but one place of compromise is the unity forged by the office and person of the Supreme Leader. The call to avenge the martyrdom of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom the US-Israel duo killed at the beginning of the war, has kept alive Iranian’s will to fight back.
That is the reason, despite being hit hard in Tehran and its outskirts, Iran has upped its game and begun to hit Israel even more viciously.
Yet Trump has told the media that there has been a regime change in Iran. Such an allegation is part of what is confounding about Trump’s perception of the ongoing war.
The world the US President is addressing acknowledges that Iran has lost many key personalities in the regime. However, the vacant offices have been swiftly filled to avoid leadership vacuums.
So far, without either Rubio or Vance confirming that they are part of the alleged peace negotiations, and with Kushner and Witkoff having said nothing, the president’s statements remain open to interpretation.