U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday (March 24) Iran is negotiating with his government "but they're afraid to say it."

Addressing the National Republican Congressional Committee fundraising dinner in D.C., Trump said leaders in Iran are afraid "they'll be killed by their own people. They're also afraid they'll be killed by us."

Iran is reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war in the Gulf but has no intention of holding talks to end the widening Middle East conflict, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested some willingness by Tehran to negotiate an end to the war if its demands were met, despite an initial response that was negative as Iranian officials publicly poured scorn on the prospect of any negotiations with the U.S.

(Production: Gerardo Gomez)

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 25, 2026) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - No use USA)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, WALKING ON STAGE

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"And I tell you, we're winning so big, nobody's ever seen anything like we're doing in the Middle East with Iran. And they are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly. But they're afraid to say it because they figure they'll be killed by their own people. They're also afraid they'll be killed by us. There's never been a head of a country that wanted that job less than being the head of Iran. I don't want it. We'll listen to some of the things they say. We hear them very clearly. They say, I don't want it. We'd like to make you the next supreme leader. No, thank you. I don't want it."

3. TRUMP ON STAGE DURING NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ANNUAL FUNDRAISING DINNER

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"I actually thought when I went on this excursion, as I call it, excursion into hell, excursion into a terrible place when I went on to do something that for 47 years should have been done by any of the other presidents. And you heard numerous of them said they wished they did it, but they didn't have the guts to do it. We had no choice. But I thought it was going to be much worse. I thought that the energy prices, oil price would go up, go up higher. I thought the stock market would go somewhat lower, but it didn't matter to me. Short term, what we had to do is get rid of the cancer. We had to cut out the cancer. The cancer was Iran with a nuclear weapon, and we've cut it out now. We're going to finish it off."

5. ATTENDEES AT FUNDRAISING DINNER