President Donald Trump reversed course on his Iran negotiating position on Saturday, denying a statement he made to an audience in South Florida on Friday evening. The contradiction emerged as Trump traveled to his golf club in Miami to attend a PGA Tour event. When a journalist reminded him of his Friday remarks, Trump flatly denied having made them.
On Friday night, speaking at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, Trump discussed Iranian negotiations. He said the Iranians were "calling, trying to make a good deal," but added: "maybe we're better off not making a deal at all, do you want to know the truth. Because we can't let this thing go on. It's been going on too long." The audience responded with applause.
By Saturday morning, Trump's framing had shifted. He told reporters he was "looking at" a 14-point peace proposal from Iran and stated "They want to make a deal." When a journalist referenced his previous night's statement about potentially avoiding a deal, Trump denied it outright. "I didn't say that," he said, then offered an alternative version of what he claimed he said: "I said that if we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild."
The White House was contacted for comment but has not responded. However, video and audio records confirmed Trump made both the Friday statement about possibly forgoing a deal and his subsequent claim about the 20-year rebuilding timeline. The conflicting statements underscored a broader pattern: Trump had also backtracked on a December statement regarding the release of military video footage, initially saying he would release it "no problem," then denying five days later that he had made such a commitment.
At a Friday rally in The Villages, Florida, Trump touted his cognitive test performance, claiming he had taken such examinations three times during his presidency and "aced" all three. He described the test as having 30 questions and noted the final 10 were particularly challenging. He suggested his supporters might struggle with those final questions, though detailed results of his cognitive assessments have not been publicly released.
Later on Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that cognitive examinations should be mandatory for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, adding that such a requirement might have prevented certain candidates from being elected. He emphasized his own test results without providing specifics beyond his claim of perfect scores.
