US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the ceasefire with Iran is on “massive life support,” calling Tehran’s response to Washington’s latest proposal a “piece of garbage”.
Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said the ceasefire was in an “unbelievably weak” state. “I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage,” referring to the response Iran sent Pakistani mediators on Sunday.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living’,” he added.
“It’s a stupid proposal, and nobody would take it,” Trump said.
Trump also criticised the Iranian side for taking four days to deliver what he described as a “very simple” response. He claimed the proposal initially included broad assurances on nuclear activity, but that Tehran later withdrew them.
“They sent us this document that we waited four days for that should have taken 10 minutes to do,” Trump said. “They guarantee no nuclear weapons for a very long period of time and a couple of other minor things, but they just can’t get there.”
“So they agree with us, and then they take it back,” he said, adding: “They cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they didn’t say that in their letter.”
Asked if the believes a diplomatic solution with Iran is still possible, Trump responded: “I think it’s very possible.”
Trump further claimed that Iranian officials had conveyed messages about so-called “nuclear dust” in the aftermath of US strikes. “Iran told me very strongly … they intend to give us the nuclear dust, as I call it,” he said, referring to nuclear materials damaged in US strikes last year.
He also asserted that the sites, struck in the US-Israeli war on Iran in June 2025, were “so obliterated” that extraction would be nearly impossible.
“There’s only one or two countries in the world that could get it … It’s so deep and got hit so hard that there’s no way to have the equipment to move it,” Trump said, adding that Iran had told the US that it and China were “the only two countries in the world that could take it out.”
Trump also voiced disappointment about Kurdish groups for allegedly keeping weapons sent by the US that were intended for Iranian protesters, without offering further details about the role of the Kurdish side, which he did not identify further.
Claiming that Iranian people wanted to rise up against the government had no weapons to do so, Trump said: “We thought the Kurds were going to give us weapons, but the Kurds disappointed us.”
“The Kurds take, take, take. They have a great reputation in Congress. Congress says, ‘Oh, they fight so hard.’ They fight hard when they get paid,” he added.
The US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran against Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, alongside the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. The truce was later extended by Trump without a set deadline.
On Sunday, Iran sent Pakistan its response to a US proposal for ending the war, but Trump dismissed it as “totally unacceptable.” – AA
