President Donald Trump revealed Thursday that although Iran is giving a gift to the United States, he will not be the one to open it.
Earlier in the week, Trump said Iran gave him “a very big present.”
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump said that talks with Iran could produce an end to the war.
“Look, we have very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran, with the right people,” Trump said in a video posted to X.
“They said to show you the fact that we’re real and solid, and we’re there, we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil — this was two days ago — and they’ll sail up tomorrow — that was three days ago,” Trump said.
President Trump claims Iran allowed at least eight Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to sail through the Strait of Hormuz as a “present” to the U.S. during the negotiations to end the war. The president said Iran then sent two additional vessels, suggesting it had permitted 10… pic.twitter.com/3pAJjRehTd
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 26, 2026
“And I didn’t think much about it, and then I watched the news and they said — a very good anchor actually, happened to be Fox — but I watched it and they said something unusual is happening,” Trump continued.
“There are eight boats that are going right up the middle of the Hormuz Strait, eight big tankers are going loaded up with oil right through. And I said, well, I guess they were right and they were real, and I think they were Pakistani flagged. And I said, well, I guess we’re dealing with the right people,” he added.
“And actually, they then apologized for something they said and they said, we’re going to send two more boats, and it ended up being 10 boats,” he said.
“I hope I haven’t screwed up your negotiations, but I thought it was appropriate to say, because I did taunt you the other day by saying they’re going to give us a present,” Trump said, referring to special envoy Steve Witkoff’s ongoing talks and a previous statement from Trump concerning Iran’s gesture.
As noted by Politico, Trump said Iran is “begging to make a deal, not me.”
“I don’t know if we will be able to do that — I don’t know if we’re willing to do that. They should have done that four weeks ago. They should have done it two years ago, or they should have done it when we first came into office,” he said.
An unnamed American official said that the gesture came after the United States asked for a show of goodwill once messages between the two nations were exchanged over the weekend, according to The Times of Israel.
In response, Iran agreed to allow some tankers not linked to the U.S. or Israel through the Strait of Hormuz in order to help calm global markets, an Arab official said.
During the Cabinet meeting, the two-track strategy of the administration came through clearly, Politico reported.
U.S. forces continue to eliminate the Iranian regime’s ability to project military power beyond its borders. pic.twitter.com/r2jAincxxd
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 27, 2026
Witkoff said Trump’s “preference is always peace and that we should make that our priority.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the military would continue “negotiating with bombs.”
Witkoff said during the meeting that before the war began, Iran had enough enriched nuclear material to make 11 nuclear weapons.
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