Trump told PBS’s Liz Landers that he was optimistic, but added, “I felt that way before with them, so we’ll see what happens. I think we’ll have a very good chance of making a deal again. If we don’t, we’ll go back to our old ways.”

In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran.”

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” he warned.

WHAT’S THE DEAL? There’s a lot of speculative reporting about exactly what is the U.S. memorandum, aside from Trump’s core demand that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Iran has reportedly offered to end all enrichment of uranium for 12 to 15 years, and then resume enrichment at a very low level 3.67% purity, which is not suitable for making a nuclear weapon.

“No, it’s not part of the deal, no.” Trump told PBS. “That’s very little, by the way. That’s very small. But it’s still not part of the deal.”

Trump did confirm that Iran would have to agree to shut down their underground nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — all of which have been seriously damaged in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes — and turn over their current stockpile of enriched uranium to the extent it is recoverable. “People don’t even know if you can get it,” Trump told Hugh Hewitt in an interview Monday. 

“And by the way, if they could have gotten it, they would have gotten it,” Trump said, noting much of the highly-enriched 60% uranian is believed to be buried under rubble at Isfahan. “We want it back. We want it back 100%.

Trump told PBS he wants that uranium to be sent to the United States, not Russia. “Not perhaps. It goes to the United States,” he said.

‘WE’VE HAD VERY GOOD TALKS’: Trump says he sees no need to send Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner back to Pakistan unless at some point there is a big signing ceremony for a final peace deal. But he insists he is in close contact with Iranians, who he isn’t identifying.

“We’re in good shape. And now we’re doing well. Now we have to get what we have to get. If we don’t do that, we’ll have to go a big step further, “But with that being said, they want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal.”

Trump also keeps hedging, saying that the pattern with the Iranians is they say things in private that they deny in public. “We’ve had some good talks before, as you know, and all of a sudden, the next day, they’re, like — they forgot what happened.”

“These guys are proud. Nobody more proud than these guys. Sometimes, they fight on pride because, you know, they’re injured, they’re hurt. No matter how great you are, you get hit by somebody else that looks like them, it’s very tough. But they have great pride.”

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), an ardent Trump critic, says it’s hard to know if Trump is giving an accurate account of the state of the negotiations.

“Iran says things, the U.S. government says things. Up until about the last year and a half, whenever Iran and the U.S. government said conflicting things, you would take the U.S. government’s word to the bank,” Kinzinger said on CNN. “But lately, that’s not the case. Iran is clearly a regime that lies, but the president clearly lies. And so this whole crisis, in truth, I think, is going to end up being something that goes far beyond Donald Trump’s two and a half years in office left.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION STRETCHES DEFINITION OF A CEASEFIRE

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 

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HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Rome for an audience with Pope Leo XIV that comes as President Trump has not let up on his criticism of the first American pontiff.

Trump keeps interpreting the pope’s message of peace as an endorsement of Iran’s desire to obtain a nuclear weapon, which Leo had said is a misrepresentation of his views. 

“As far as the Pope is concerned — and it’s very simple — whether I make him happy or I don’t make him happy, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said yesterday. “And he seemed to be saying that they can, and I say they cannot because if that happened, the entire world would be hostage, and we’re not going to let that happen.”

Rubio, a practicing Catholic, told reporters Tuesday his trip was not meant to smooth things over with the Pope. “It’s a trip we had planned from before,” he said. “There’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican.” Including, Rubio said, “shared concerns about religious freedom,” and distributing humanitarian aid to Cuba though Catholic charities. 

“We’re willing to give more humanitarian aid to Cuba, distributed through the church, but the Cuban regime has to allow us to do it. They won’t allow us to give their own people more humanitarian aid. And we’re willing to do it through the church.”

Trump has taken it personally, when the Pope preaches a gospel of peace, and says God does no hear the prayers of people who pray for war. “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Leo posted on X last month. 

RUBIO HEADS TO ROME AMID TRUMP’S UNPOPULAR FEUD WITH POPE LEO

THE RUNDOWN: 

Washington Examiner: Trump administration stretches definition of a ceasefire

Washington Examiner: Hegseth strengthens his hand as he outruns the ‘on his way out hype’

Washington Examiner: Israel targets Hezbollah commander in first strike on Beirut since Lebanon ceasefire

Washington Examiner: Rubio heads to Rome amid Trump’s unpopular feud with Pope Leo

Washington Examiner: Trump’s new counterterrorism strategy ‘prioritizes the neutralization of hemispheric terror threats’

Washington Examiner: The long unanswered question of the War Powers Act’s constitutionality

Washington Examiner: Coast Guard organizing ‘Special Missions Command’ to oversee high-risk operations

Washington Examiner: DOT says airlines paid 56% more for fuel in March than before Iran war

Washington Examiner: Joint Base Andrews dealing with 32,000-gallon jet fuel spill

Washington Examiner: North Korea drops reunification goal from constitution after 70 years

Wall Street Journal: China Is Still Supplying Drone Factories in Iran, Russia Despite US Sanctions

Washington Post: Iran has hit far more U.S. military assets than reported, satellite images show

Wall Street Journal: Over 20,000 Sailors Are Stranded by the Iran War. This Is Who They Call.

AP: Polls open in UK local elections seen as a verdict on Keir Starmer’s leadership

Wall Street Journal: Putin’s Strongman Image Is Fading as Ukraine Brings War Home to Russia

AP: Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, intelligence officials say

The Telegraph: 72 hours in the Kherson ‘Red Zone’

Defense One: Air Force Wants AI in Its Air Ops Command-and-Control System

DefenseScoop: Pentagon Eyes 3-Year Cyber Training Requirement, Overriding New Army Policy

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lockheed Taps Former F-22 Pilot to Lead Aeronautics Division

Breaking Defense: Lockheed Opposes Northrop Bid to Remove Firewall on Solid Rocket Motor Business

The War Zone: DARPA’s XRQ-73 Hybrid-Electric Flying Wing Drone Has Flown

Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-22s Arrive at Kadena as Base Awaits Delayed F-15EXs

Task & Purpose: Military Will Now Prescreen Recruits for 28 Medical Conditions

Air & Space Forces Magazine: From Boneyard to Flagship: B-1 Pulled from Retirement Returns to Service at Dyess

Air & Space Forces Magazine: AFRL Restructures amid Pentagon’s Innovation Reform Effort

THE CALENDAR: 

THURSDAY | MAY 7 

9 a.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance virtual discussion: “How the U.S. and its partners must adapt to a rapidly changing domain,” with Paul Godfrey, assistant chief of space operations for future concepts and partnership at U.S. Space Force https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5661859715216832858

9 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion: “Chernobyl’s Legacy 40 Years On,” with Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna; Marina Budjeryn, senior research associate at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center; Adam Higgenbotham, author and journalist; Michael Crowley, diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2026/04/chernobyls-legacy-40-years-on

10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual media briefing: “Previewing the Trump-Xi Summit,” with Bonny Lin, director, CSIS China Power Project; Edgard Kagan, CSIS chair in China studies; J. Stephen Morrison, director, CSIS Global Health Policy Center; Philip Luck, director, CSIS Economics Program; and Scott Kennedy, CSIS chair in Chinese business and economics https://www.csis.org/events/press-briefing-previewing-trump-xi-summit

12 p.m. — National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations holds a virtual discussion: “Red Lines and Deadlines: The Tit-For-Tat Tactics and Rising Economic Stakes of the U.S.-Iran Standoff,” with former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Timothy Lenderking; Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Institute for Public Policy; Sara Vakhshouri, founder and president of SVB Energy International; Alex Vatanka, Middle East Institute senior fellow; and Fadi Hilani, NCUSAR senior academic and research fellow https://www.youtube.com/watch?

12:30 p.m. 801 Allen Y. Lew Pl. NW — U.S. Energy Association discussion: “AI and Energy Security in Europe,” part of the “AI+ Expo,” with Lithuania Ambassador to the U.S. Gediminas Varvuolis; Moldova Ambassador to the U.S. Vladislav Kulminski; Romania Ambassador to the U.S. Andrei Muraru; Georg Rute, CEO of Gridraven; and Mark Menezes, USEA president and CEO https://expo.scsp.ai/register/

FRIDAY | MAY 8 

8:30 a.m. 11493 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, Va. — Government Executive Media Group forum: “Guiding the Golden Dome: Architecture, Acquisition, and the Future of Integrated Missile Defense, with John Plumb, head of strategy for K2 Space, former assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy https://events.govexec.com/guiding-the-golden-dome/

10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Organizing for Deterrence and Urgency,” with Drew Walter, Acting principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence, chemical, and biological defense, policy and programs https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/organizing-for-deterrence-and-urgency-with-drew-walter/

TUESDAY | MAY 12

1:30 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Schriever Spacepower Series with Gen Stephen Whiting, commander, U.S. Space Command https://afa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register

THURSDAY | MAY 14

10 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “The posture of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with testimony from Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Central Command; and Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Africa Command http://www.armed-services.senate.gov

WEDNESDAY | MAY 20 

2:30 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing; “Defense Department personnel policies and programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program. http://www.armed-services.senate.gov 

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much and we’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us … We’ll see whether or not they are agreeing, and if they don’t agree, they’ll end up agreeing shortly thereafter.” President Donald Trump, at the White House Wednesday, as he waits for a response from Iran to his latest peace proposal