U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard the new Air Force One on July 8, 2026.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he does not know whether Washington and Iran are returning to a full-fledged war, but told reporters that Iran “badly” wants to make a deal to cease escalating hostilities in the Middle East.
Trump flew back to Washington, DC, via the U.K. on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he departed the U.K.’s Mildenhall Air Force Base, the president said American forces had “just hit [Iran] very hard.”
“I say we hit them 20 to 1 – every time they hit us, we’re going to hit them 20, and we did it last night,” he said. “They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night … when they hit, we hit back much harder.”
When asked whether the U.S. and Iran are returning to full-scale military conflict, Trump responded: “I don’t know,” before adding that if the war resumed the U.S. would “win it very quickly.”
“We have many ways we can win, but we’ve already won militarily,” he said. “They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal. That’s the problem.”
CNBC has reached out to the Iranian government for a response to Trump’s comments.
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