President Donald Trump said Sunday night that Israel is cooperating with the United States to strengthen security operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route that has become a focal point of tensions with Iran.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the two countries are coordinating closely on the effort and emphasized that his relationship with Israel’s leadership remains strong.
“They’re working with us,” Trump said, adding that his relationship with Israel is very good and again dismissing reports about arguments with Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu. “We really get along well.”
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump announces Iran is practically PLEADING and BEGGING him on their hands and knees to make a deal
"They wanna negotiate — they wanna negotiate BADLY. I don't think they're ready. They wanna negotiate BADLY, as they should!"
"But I don't think they're… pic.twitter.com/IuH9dSRtkS
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 16, 2026
Trump also confirmed that the United States is holding ongoing talks with several nations about forming a broader coalition to help safeguard the waterway and ensure that commercial shipping can pass through safely.
“We attacked Kharg Island, left just the one little area standing with all the oil pipes. We can do that on five minutes’ notice. We’ve essentially defeated Iran!” he said, adding, “Nice to have other countries police that with us. We’ll help!”
The president said Iran is eager to begin negotiations with Washington but suggested that Tehran has not yet shown a willingness to make the concessions necessary for an agreement.
“They want to negotiate. They want to negotiate badly. I don’t think they’re ready, just from what I’m hearing,” he said.
“They want to negotiate badly, as they should. But I don’t think they’re ready to do what they have to do.”
“But we’re doing very well with respect to that whole situation in Iran. We are talking to other countries about working with us,” he said.
Trump also warned that the region could have faced catastrophic consequences if he had not taken earlier steps to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“If I didn’t terminate the Obama horrible deal – the Iran nuclear deal, it’s called – if I didn’t terminate that in my first term, they would have already had a nuclear weapon, and they would have used it immediately upon getting it. And if I didn’t send in the B-2 bombers to bomb the hell out of it and obliterate – and that’s what it was, we obliterated that site and stopped all their potential nuclear. If I didn’t do that, you would have had Israel and the Middle East hit by nuclear weapons.”
He added that, in his view, Iran’s plans would have devastated Israel and destabilized much of the region if decisive action had not been taken.
“Israel would have been obliterated. I think lots of the Middle East would have been. And you saw that when they sent thousands of missiles to countries that didn’t expect anything. They didn’t think they were going to be involved. And yet, you look at what happened with Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar…all of a sudden, they’re being barraged by missiles. These people would have used nuclear on the entire Middle East. And that was their plan, take over the whole Middle East. And it failed with the nuclear. And then they had thousands of missiles. And for the most part, largely, we’ve now destroyed those missiles.”
Trump had said a day earlier that U.S. strikes inflicted major damage on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, and suggested that additional strikes could occur.
“We totally demolished Kharg Island. We may hit it a few more times just for fun,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.
While acknowledging that Iran has indicated interest in negotiating a ceasefire, Trump said he is not ready to accept a deal unless the terms meet U.S. demands.
“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” he explained, adding that any terms will have to be “very solid.”
In an interview with Fox News Radio on Friday, Trump declined to offer a firm timetable for the end of the conflict with Iran, saying the conclusion of the war would depend on his own judgment.
He said the war would end when he feels it “in my bones.”
Trump also said he does not expect the conflict to drag on but stressed that he alone will determine when it concludes.
He voiced confidence that the situation could resolve soon, though he acknowledged that the fighting could continue for as long as necessary. Trump also brushed aside concerns that the United States could run short of weapons or ammunition.
“Nobody has the technology or the weapons that we have,” he told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade in the interview. “We’re way ahead of schedule. Way ahead.”
He later added that the United States has ample resources to sustain military operations for as long as needed.
“We have virtually unlimited ammunition. We’re using it, we’re using it. We can go forever.”
{Matzav.com}