The Middle East pressure campaign may be entering its final act.
President Donald Trump declared Friday that negotiations with Iran are nearing the finish line, saying “most of the points are already negotiated and agreed to” as tensions appear to ease following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Trump called the shipping lane’s reopening “a great and brilliant day for the world” and suggested U.S. military pressure helped force the breakthrough.
“We will remain in full force in effect as it pertains to Iran, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete and fully signed,” Trump told the crowd.
The comments signal Trump believes leverage, not diplomacy alone, moved Tehran toward concessions after weeks of heightened regional instability.
Trump also made one of his most striking claims yet about Iran’s nuclear stockpile, saying the United States “will get all of” what he described as “nuclear dust,” an apparent reference to highly enriched uranium or related nuclear material.
“No money will exchange hands in any way, shape or form,” Trump said. “You know how we’re going to get the dust, right? … We’re going to take it anyway.”
He then repeated a core pledge of his foreign policy posture: Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon.”
President Trump says the process of reaching a deal with Iran "should go very quickly," and that the U.S. will get all the "nuclear dust." pic.twitter.com/yp9ssFf0hx
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 17, 2026
Trump further claimed Iran, with U.S. assistance, “has removed or is removing all of the sea mines,” a reference to explosive threats that had raised fears of disruptions to global energy shipments through the waterway.
Then came a familiar target: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Now that the Hormuz strait situation is almost over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would like some help,” Trump said. “Thank you very much, NATO.”
“And I told them I would have liked your help two months ago, but now I really don’t want your help anymore.”
Trump added the alliance was “absolutely useless when we needed them,” before delivering the kicker: “But actually we never needed them. They needed us.”
President Trump on NATO: I received a call from NATO asking if we would like some help.
Thank you very much, NATO. And I told them I would have liked your help two months ago, but now I really don't want your help anymore.
Because they were absolutely useless when we needed… pic.twitter.com/vkFNtQjIs2
— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) April 17, 2026
The remarks fit Trump’s longstanding view that NATO allies rely too heavily on American power while contributing too little themselves.
