US-Iran negotiation: Trump's text to reporter amid canceled Islamabad talks goes viral; ‘come home…’
President Donald Trump sent a direct message to New York Post reporter Caitlin Doornbos in Islamabad, urging her to “Come home!!!” This is after the abrupt cancellation of a planned U.S. delegation’s visit to Pakistan.
The abrupt action corresponds with reports that diplomatic momentum has slowed following early optimism about a possible accord and that negotiations with Iran have reached a roadblock.
Trump announced Saturday afternoon in a Truth Social post saying that too much time was being “wasted” on travel.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going [to] Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” the president wrote.
Read more: Trump’s ‘unauthorised’ war on Iran to hit 60-day limit soon. What happens next?
Why was the Islamabad visit cancelled?
Shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed Fox News that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff “will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks, direct talks intermediated by the Pakistanis” with the Iranians, Trump abruptly changed his mind.
In his Truth Social post, Trump blamed the Iranian leadership and cited internal strife and misunderstanding. He wrote, “Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.”
Trump added, “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none!”
He further states that if Iran were to continue the peace talks, they can reach out to him directly. Trump wrote, “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Read more: Canceling US envoys’ trip to Pak does not mean restart of Iran war: Trump
Iran talks and regional tensions
Despite a shaky cease-fire that was reached on April 8, tensions in the Middle East are still high. Even after 21 hours of intense negotiations, Vice President JD Vance’s penultimate round of talks concluded on April 12 without a deal.
Before the second round of talks in Islamabad, the Iranian team met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistani mediators Field Marshal Asim Munir. Tehran had earlier indicated that the Iranian team would head to Russia and Oman as well.
The canceled Islamabad visit comes at a crucual point in negotiations involving Iran, which have been marked by conflicting statements from both sides. Trump recently suggested that a deal was close, even claiming that key points had already been agreed upon.
However, Iranian officials have pushed back on several of those assertions, calling them inaccurate and warning that public statements could complicate sensitive diplomatic efforts.