Trump pulls JD Vance from potential Iran peace talks

President Donald Trump said Thursday he had pulled Vice President JD Vance from potential peace talks with Iran, directing him on Truth Social to focus on alleged corruption in Democrat-run states.

"I have asked Vice President Vance to focus his complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States throughout the U.S.," Trump wrote. He added, "We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed."

The president referred to the Strait of Hormuz when he wrote, "We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" Iranian officials have put the value of Iranian assets frozen abroad at at least $100 billion, although other estimates are lower.

Oil prices surged and stocks fell after the post renewed uncertainty in a market that had been acting as though the war was nearly over, Axios reported.

Vance had recently sent a letter through Qatari mediators to Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, The New York Times reported. He proposed a meeting soon between American and Iranian officials, with Vance leading the U.S. delegation.

Tanker attacks and Iran diplomacy

Trump had offered a different assessment earlier in the week, saying there was "momentum towards the end of this conflict" after he hosted Qatar's prime minister.

His advisers were divided over Iran, Al Jazeera reported, citing Axios. Secretary of State Marco Rubio maintained that economic pressure was working, while Vance sought a negotiated agreement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Jared Kushner supported keeping the economic pressure in place.

Rubio met his Group of Seven counterparts in Paris on Tuesday and said Trump had weighed resuming the war or making a deal, but chose to strangle the Iranian regime, Axios reported.

Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. had already "won" the war and that it was "just a question of when we want to end it."

That same day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X that Washington invokes the "Mother of All Bombs" to conduct diplomacy through threats. "No contradiction, but a disgrace," he wrote.

They waged war, claiming to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Then they used the PrSM missile in Lamerd for the first time. Now they invoke the "Mother of All Bombs" to pursue diplomacy through threats. No contradiction, but a disgrace. Who threatens global peace and security?

— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) November 11, 2026

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said an explosion Wednesday night stopped two supertankers carrying more than four million barrels of oil. Iran's army said Thursday that two more tankers struck sea mines and caught fire east of the strait, blaming "the lying U.S. president" first and the ships' owners second.

Allegations against Democratic-run states

Trump named Minnesota, California and Illinois in his Thursday posts, calling them "poorly run, corrupt disasters" and alleging that billions of dollars were stolen every month. "Our Budget could be quickly BALANCED with the correction of this large scale criminal activity," he wrote.

Trump did not provide proof, Newsweek reported. His administration has said its fraud effort uncovered more than $200 billion in fraud.

The Times reported that federal data does not support Trump's suggestion that fraud is more common under Democrats than Republicans. It also reported that Trump has granted clemency to more than 70 allies, donors and other people convicted in fraud cases.

It was not immediately clear who, if anyone, would lead U.S. diplomacy with Iran, whether Iran had answered Vance's letter or which Iranian money Trump meant. Vance's office and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Vance's roles

The war began at the end of February with a joint Israeli-U.S. strike. Trump put Vance in charge of negotiations with Iran earlier this year, and Vance met Iranian leaders in Pakistan in April for a marathon session that produced no resolution.

Trump also named Vance his "fraud czar" in April, saying he would concentrate on alleged fraud in Democrat-led cities. Vance chairs the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which Trump established by executive order earlier this year.

This month, Vance publicly blamed the war for Republican midterm losses. "[T]he reason we lost is the war," he wrote on X. He closed one passage with, "But everyone knows why we lost."

Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have defended the administration's conduct in the war.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Al Jazeera that Tehran remains open to an agreement. "The ball is now in the American court," he said. Iran says it will not negotiate until the U.S. meets seven conditions, which Rubio previously called "unacceptable."

Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group told Al Jazeera the standoff is unstable "because what Washington considers a sustainable stalemate, Tehran sees as a slow-motion strangulation." "The tragedy is that both sides know how to start another round of hostilities, but neither knows how to control or end it," Vaez told Al Jazeera.

Democrats will control both chambers of Congress next term.