Trump Cancels Iran Peace Talks, Says 18-Hour Trip ‘Not Worth It’ and ‘Too Much Work’
President Donald Trump says he is calling off planned peace talks aimed at ending the war in Iran, arguing that the long trip to Pakistan simply isn’t worth it.
Speaking by phone on Fox News, the 79-year-old president said he had instructed his top negotiators special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner—not to make the 18-hour flight for the meeting.
“I told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there,’” Trump said, according to remarks read aloud on air.
He added, “We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”
Trump later confirmed the decision on Truth Social, saying he had canceled the Islamabad trip because it was simply too much effort.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” he wrote.
He also claimed there was major chaos within Iran’s leadership, saying, “There is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge, including them.”
Trump ended the post by repeating his view that the U.S. holds all the leverage, writing, “We have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Trump said canceling the trip does not automatically mean the U.S. is preparing for new military strikes against Iran.
“No. It doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about it yet,” he told Axios reporter Barak Ravid during a phone call.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The canceled meeting came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had just left Islamabad after holding talks with Pakistani officials, according to CNN.
The decision is another sign that Washington and Tehran remain far apart from any real agreement.
A previous diplomatic effort led by Vice President JD Vance also failed after he was unable to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear stockpile or scale back its nuclear program.
Iranian officials have reportedly grown frustrated with Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, who had been leading U.S. negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program before Trump announced full military action against Iran on February 28.
Iran now believes those earlier talks were carried out in bad faith, arguing that the U.S. was never seriously interested in diplomacy and was planning military strikes all along.
Officials in Tehran have said they would now only be willing to negotiate with Vance, who has publicly opposed deeper U.S. military involvement in the Middle East.
Even before Trump canceled the Islamabad meeting, the planned talks were already seen as unstable.
There also appears to be uncertainty over who is actually leading Iran after the February 28 strikes reportedly killed several top regime figures.
On Friday, Trump told Reuters, “We’re dealing with the people in charge now.” But just one day earlier, he told reporters he did not know who was currently leading the Iranian government.
