VIDEO SHOWS: US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE

SHOWS: IN AIR (AUGUST 2, 2026) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - No use USA)

STORY: President Donald Trump said on Sunday (August 2) the U.S. held off on a fresh attack on Iran for a deal to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday that negotiations between Tehran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz were in their final stages, citing Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Trump has repeatedly issued threats that he would escalate the war on Iran he launched along with Israel in late February, only to allow more time for talks, which have so far not led to a comprehensive deal. Trump's apparent de-escalation after days of threats of new attacks from each side was the latest twist in the war. Attacks have spread across the Gulf to the Red Sea and even a Mediterranean facility in Egypt. Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas before the start of the war, causing energy prices to rise and stoking broader inflation. (Production and editing: Paul Vieira. Writing: Matt Spetalnick, Alison Williams, Alex Richardson and Simon Lewis)

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE and by Qatar and by Iran. We were all set to go just about at this time right now and it would have been a massive attack. We were all set to go. But when the allies ask you to call it off, you got to sort of say, 'well, let's see'. And the reason they ask is, I think there's a deal. There's a deal on Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear... or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. I call it the denuclearization of Iran."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"So we're holding it. We'll just see, we can do it any time we want. But we were asked by the three primary groups. We were also asked by Iran, very strongly actually. They said we'd like to make a deal now. You know, I don't know what they say because a lot of times they'll say that to me and then they'll go out and say 'we don't know what he's talking about.' Obviously they don't want to be attacked. And they knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming."

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"Well, now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon, and we'll see. I'd love to do that. Save a lot of lives. Save a lot of unnecessary power, to be honest with you, take many, many years to ever build it back. If it could, I don't think it would be even buildable back. So we had an attack that would been the biggest attack since World War Two, and it would have been disastrous for them, and they didn't want us to do it. And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent."

6. WHITE FLASH

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"And the deal is imminent, having to do with the Hormuz Strait. And ultimately the denuclearization of Iran. So when I hear that, I say, well, do we want to go and do this? And there's a group of people that would likely just do it, and there's another group of people that does not want me to do it."

8. WHITE FLASH

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"We'll just see how it ends. We're ready to go any time we want. Would I rather make a deal? I'm not looking to kill people. There's people dying, a lot of people dying, and we don't want that. So they asked us, Iran specifically, but the other three said we really, I asked them, I asked Saudi Arabia, the king, the crown prince. I said, 'what would you rather do, would you rather have us do this or not'. They said, 'we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack', because you don't know where these attacks lead. I mean, will they be flooded with people pouring into their country and disaster? A lot of bad things can happen."