Less than a month after Donald Trump finally signed a formal ceasefire agreement with Iran in the unnecessary and illegal war he started with them this year, the US president has already declared that same ceasefire "over," branding Iranian leadership as "scum" and "liars" and openly calling their negotiations a "waste of time."
With the US president currently in Ankara, Turkey, attending the NATO Summit, military operations between the United States and Iran saw a sudden and sharp escalation in the dark hours of the night, leading Donald Trump to make a public display out of metaphorically shredding the agreement between the two countries.
During his talks alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, a reporter asked Trump if there had been a collapse of the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Iran and the US.
"It's a very interesting question," Trump responded. "To me, I think it's over."
"I don't want to deal with them anymore — they're scum," Trump continued, rapidly growing more incensed. "You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people."
"And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over."
Trump noted that US negotiators, including Steve Witkoff and his own son-in-law, Jared Kushner, remain available to continue talks with Tehran, but made it clear that he finds any further negotiations futile.
"I'll speak to our negotiators," Trump said. "They want to negotiate. They're good people. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars."
Trump went on to draw a comparison between deals with NATO allies versus deals with Iran.
"We make a deal. If I make a deal with him," he said as he pointed to Rutte, "We have a deal."
"We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say, 'We never even talked about it.' There's something wrong with them," he added of Iran. "They're cuckoo. As far as I'm concerned, it's over.
Reporters pressed him further as to whether peace talks could resume, prompting Trump to shoot back in response, "I don't care, they can talk. But I think they're wasting their time. They're a bunch of lying guys."
Trump's tantrum came hot on the heels of an announcement from US Central Command confirming "powerful" strikes against more than 80 Iranian targets, after Iranian forces launched attacks against commercial oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran rapidly responded to those "powerful" strikes by launching a series of drones and missiles at US military facilities located in Kuwait and Bahrain.
This reignited series of operations marks the most severe exchange of fire between the two nations since the US and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding last month.
