▲ U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the White House in Washington on April 11, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

US-Iran-negotiations

Trump says U.S. in 'deep negotiations' with Iran, 'we win' regardless of what happens

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States was in "deep negotiations" with Iran in Pakistan, stressing that "we win" regardless of what happens in the high-stakes talks aimed at ending the Middle East war.

Trump made the remarks during a press availability at the White House, as senior U.S. and Iranian officials engaged in marathon negotiations in Islamabad, which marked their highest-level in-person talks since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

"We are going to see what happens. We're in very deep negotiations with Iran. We win regardless. We've defeated them militarily," he told reporters.

He added, "Whether we make a deal or not, (it) makes no difference to me -- and the reason is we have won."

He also highlighted that "regardless what happens, we win," as he touted what the U.S. military operation against Iran has achieved.

"Maybe they make a deal, maybe they don't. From the standpoint of America, we win," he said.

In Islamabad, U.S. and Iranian negotiators have been conducting negotiations for more than a dozen hours, reports said. A major sticking point concerns Iran's push to maintain control of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been seriously disrupted due to Iran's missile and drone attacks.

Regarding the strait, Trump said that the U.S. military is operating mine sweepers in the strait to locate a couple of Iranian mines, while renewing his criticism of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies that have not acceded to his call to provide military assistance to secure the waterway.

"Now all we do is we'll open up the strait, even though we don't use it. Because we have a lot of other countries in the world that do use it, that are either afraid or weak or cheap," he said. "I don't know what it is, but we were not helped by NATO that I can tell you."

The negotiations in Pakistan proceeded amid a two-week ceasefire, which was announced on Tuesday.

Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, represents the U.S. side in the talks with Iran, while the Iranian delegation includes Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

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