Trump wants – President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran are going “proceeding nicely” and warns the U.S. will settle only for “a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all.” On Monday, he linked a possible Iran settlement to expanding the Abraham Accords, naming Saudi A
For Monday morning, the message came straight from President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account: the clock is still running on Iran, and the only acceptable outcome is the kind of agreement that comes with real leverage—or nothing at all.
Trump wrote that negotiations with Iran are “proceeding nicely. ” but he added a blunt condition that any outcome must be “a Great Deal for all or. no Deal at all.” In the same post. he tied that ultimatum to an idea from his first term—reviving the Abraham Accords. then widening them and using the momentum to help end the Iran conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The proposal. as he framed it. connects normalization with Israel to a broader effort aimed at ending the Iran conflict and restarting regional diplomacy around the waterway that carries global energy. Trump also floated the possibility of Iran joining the accords. even as he acknowledged the difficulty of doing so given Tehran’s longstanding position toward Israel and the conflicts already straining the region.
He then laid down a procedural demand—at least in his view of what must happen next. The countries discussed in his recent calls should, “at a minimum, simultaneously” sign on to the Abraham Accords, Trump wrote.
Trump named a list of countries he wants pulled into that effort: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain. The UAE and Bahrain are already members. Trump said he was directing representatives to begin moving the process forward.
Those countries were not chosen at random. in part because the Abraham Accords themselves began as a breakthrough that quickly became a yardstick for regional normalization. The Middle East Institute describes the Abraham Accords as a series of U.S.-brokered diplomatic agreements meant to establish formal ties between Israel and several Arab nations. The first agreements were signed in September 2020 and initially included the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Morocco later joined, while Sudan agreed to a preliminary framework.
Trump argued Monday that the agreements produced a “Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM” for participating countries.
Inside Trump’s party, the embrace is not universal.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., backed the proposal, writing on X that requiring expansion of the accords as part of an Iran deal was “simply brilliant.” Graham also said adding countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan would be “beyond transformative.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reacted with sharp concern. He said he was “deeply concerned” about the details surrounding an emerging agreement and warned against any deal that would leave Iran with access to significant funding. uranium enrichment capability or leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Cruz framed the risk as too high to gamble on what could be a future constraint on U.S. and allied interests.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., echoed that worry. On X, Wicker argued that a reported two-month truce relying on Tehran acting honestly “would be a disaster.”
The tension is not only about Republican disagreements over Iran—it’s also about whether the named countries can be persuaded to accept Trump’s sequencing.
Several of the countries Trump listed have reasons to resist, tied to domestic politics and regional diplomacy. Saudi Arabia. for example. has repeatedly tied normalization with Israel to progress toward a Palestinian state. according to The Jerusalem Post. Turkey, Egypt and Jordan also face their own complications because they already recognize Israel or maintain peace agreements.
Dan Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said on X that expanding the accords is a worthy long-term goal. But Shapiro warned that tying that effort to a deal ending the Iran war is “needlessly complicated and unrealistic.”
The push and pull emerging from Trump’s post is clear: he wants normalization linked to a comprehensive Iran effort. with countries signing on “at a minimum. simultaneously. ” and he is willing to set a hard line on the deal itself—“a Great Deal for all or. no Deal at all.” Republicans who see expansion of the accords as a historic opening are betting that bringing more states into Israel-normalization can strengthen leverage in the region.
Skeptics inside the party are focused on what an Iran agreement could cost—especially if Iran retains the ability to enrich uranium. access major funding. or influence the Strait of Hormuz. And even among supporters of the accords. some argue the diplomatic math is tougher when the normalization track is braided directly into an Iran settlement.
As Trump’s proposal moves from social media into real negotiations—if it does—the central question will remain the same. only sharper: can a widening of the Abraham Accords be pulled off at the pace and terms Trump is demanding. while still meeting the strict limits his critics say must never be crossed with Iran?.
United States politics Donald Trump Iran talks Abraham Accords Israel normalization Lindsey Graham Ted Cruz Roger Wicker Strait of Hormuz Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Qatar Pakistan Turkey Egypt Jordan Bahrain