(L-R) U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. President Donald Trump listen to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the U.S. and Israel Ambassador to the U.S., at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2026. (Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
Israel and Lebanon extended their cease-fire for three weeks at a meeting at the White House brokered by President Donald Trump, who said he was prepared to wait for "the best deal" to end his war with Iran.
Trump said he was in no rush to reach a peace agreement and wanted it to be "everlasting," while continuing to assert that the U.S. had a clear upper hand in the naval stand-off in the Strait.
A day after Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the key shipping corridor, Trump dismissed the threat posed by Iran's "little wise-guy ships" and said he believed Tehran was hamstrung from making a deal because its leadership was in turmoil.
On Thursday, he said the U.S. Navy has orders to "shoot and kill" Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, and the U.S. could knock out in a day any refurbishing of weapons that Iran may have made during a cease-fire in place since April 8.
But navigation in the passage remained effectively blocked, and the Iranian capture of two huge cargo ships was a reminder that the U.S. struggles to keep control of the strait, and continued to cause trouble for oil markets and pose major strains to the global economy. The U.S. has maintained a blockade
Iranian unity
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday rejected Trump's claim of disarray in the leadership, describing it as "the enemy's media operations" to maliciously undermine Iranian unity and security.
"Unity will become stronger and more solid, and enemies will become weaker and more humiliated," he said in a post on X, as he remained out of the public eye since taking over from his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by U.S. strikes in the early days of the war that began on Feb. 28.
Trump said this week he would indefinitely extend what had been a two-week cease-fire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, which have yet to be scheduled.
"Don't rush me," he said when asked how long he was willing to wait for a long-term peace deal. "I want to make the best deal ... I want to have it everlasting."
He ruled out the use of nuclear weapons, telling reporters they were unnecessary because the U.S. had "decimated" Iran with conventional arms.
"No, I wouldn't use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," Trump said when asked by a reporter at the White House.
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