Trump Says He Changed His Mind After Iran Gave “Very Big Present”
President Trump took questions after Markwayne Mullin was confirmed Tuesday as secretary of Homeland Security and dropped a strange detail about ongoing negotiations to end the war in Iran.
After a reporter asked Trump why he would bother trying to negotiate with Iran if, as the president claimed, he did not trust their leadership, Trump replied:
“Because they’re going to make a deal. Yesterday they did something incredible, actually. They gave us a gift. And the gift arrived today. And it was a very big gift worth a huge amount of money. And I’m not going to tell you what that gift is, but it was a very significant prize.…It meant one thing to me: We’re dealing with the right people.”
Trump on Iran: They gave us a gift today. And it was a very big gift that was worth a huge amount of money and I’m not going to tell you what the gift is but it was a very large prize. That told me we were dealing with the right people. pic.twitter.com/46eMS6cWN5
– Acyn (@Acyn) March 24, 2026
It is both funny and depressing to hear that Iranian leaders have realized they can simply bribe Trump with an expensive gift. This is a strategy similar to that recently employed by María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who presented her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump in January, sparking allegations that she was trying to curry favor with the president. (Trump was delighted with the gift but later snubbed Machado anyway.)
Reporters asked Trump about what the present was like. The president didn’t want to say exactly, but suggested it was “oil and gas related” and “flow and strait related.” [of Hormuz].” Perhaps a deal giving Trump and his cronies exclusive access to an oil field?
Negotiations to end the war got off to a rocky start. After Trump claimed Monday that Iran and the United States had had “productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities,” Iranian officials said the talks never took place.
Despite the fact that the American and Israeli strikes against Iran are very ongoingMuch like the Iranian retaliation, Trump also claimed in his remarks that “the war has been won” and “the only ones who like to continue it are fake news.”
