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JUST IN: Trump Hints At Potential Breakthrough In Middle East: ‘We’re Speaking To Iran’

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A breakthrough in the Israel-Iran conflict may be on the horizon, according to President Donald Trump, who told reporters on Friday afternoon that a conversation about the real conversation has already begun.

The Republican arrived in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he will spend Friday evening at his eponymous golf course as he hosts a fundraising dinner in support of his political action committee. Shortly after descending the stairs of Air Force One, President Trump fielded a question from the press pool about the status of negotiations with Iran, which earlier in the day called for an end to airstrikes before discussing a long-term deal.

“Will you make that request?” a journalist asked about whether he would ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further bombing.

“Well, I think it’s very hard to make that request right now,” explained Trump. “If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody’s losing.”

Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, which officials have insisted is meant purely for civilian purposes but which Israel and international observers have claimed is guided by the search for an atomic weapon.

President Trump then revealed for the first time that U.S. officials have already been holding talks with Iran.

“We’re ready, willing, and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens,” he added.

Another reporter asked for his “thought process” behind offering a two-week window to weigh whether he proceeds with direct attacks on Iran. Trump clarified that he hopes it is enough time for “people to come to their senses.”

On Friday, emissaries from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany met with Iranian officials for high-level talks, which they framed as an accomplishment that President Trump could not make.

Asked if he thought the talks in Geneva were helpful, Trump replied immediately, “No, they didn’t help. Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe.”

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British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the situation “perilous” after speaking with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the president’s Middle East ambassador.

“A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” Lammy said.

Iran, meanwhile, is digging in for a protracted fight over the long-term future of its uranium enrichment.

“We do not want to negotiate with anyone while the Zionist regime’s aggression continues,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on state television Friday.

“The demand for an end to this war has already begun,” Araghchi added. “It shows how effective the resistance of the Iranian people has been and will be.”

However, a senior Iranian official said on Friday that, should Trump be able to bring about an end to Israel’s bombing, it would be open to discussing a permanent end to its nuclear program.

The specter of a new warfront in the Middle East has partially frayed the MAGA coalition as consternation rang out over the possibility of American boots on the ground in yet another Middle East country. Sensing the unease among his supporters, President Trump and top aides have fanned out across conservative media, speaking with allies like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon to redirect their concern ultimately back in support of Trump, whatever he may decide to do.

“I will tell you, if the president as commander-in-chief makes a decision to do this, and comes forward and walks people through it, the MAGA movement — you’ll lose some — but the MAGA movement, the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, the Matt Gaetzes, we will fight it up to the end, to make sure he’s got information, but if he has more intelligence and makes that case to the American people, the MAGA movement will support President Trump,” Bannon said on his show after revealing he had lunch with the president this week.