Shireen Akram-Boshar
Truthout / May 18, 2026
Trump said the US military is “prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran” if a deal isn’t reached.
On Monday, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he had instructed the military to “NOT [do] the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow,” writing that “serious negotiations are now taking place” and that “a Deal will be made” shortly between the U.S. and Iran. According to his post, the postponement of the supposed planned attack, which he had not previously announced, came at the request of leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Trump added that the deal “will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!”
“In the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached,” Trump said, the military must be “prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran.”
Trump’s claims about an upcoming deal come after he escalated his threats against Iran in a barrage of social media posts over the weekend.
“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday afternoon. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
That evening, Trump posted an AI-generated map of the Middle East, with a massive American flag superimposed on the region. The map included the names of a dozen cities in Iran, almost all of them completely fictitious.
Trump’s frenetic social media posts come as the ceasefire, entering its seventh week, has remained shaky. Last week, Trump said that the ceasefire was on “life support.”
Across the region, the ceasefire has not meant an end to attacks. On Sunday, a drone strike on the UAE sparked a fire near its nuclear power plant — the sole nuclear plant in the Gulf region — which the UAE called a “dangerous escalation.” The UAE’s defense ministry said the strike had come from the “western border direction,” and suggested it had come from Iran-allied militias in Iraq.
Israel and Lebanon also extended their ceasefire for 45 days on Friday — but this continues to be a one-sided ceasefire. Since the “ceasefire” began one month ago in mid-April, Israeli strikes have killed over 670 people in Lebanon. On Monday, Lebanon’s health ministry stated that Israeli strikes since the start of its war on Lebanon in early March have killed over 3,000 people.
A poll released Monday by The New York Times and the Siena Research Institute showed Trump’s approval ratings hitting a record low of 37 percent. According to the poll, 65 percent say they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war in Iran, and 62 percent said they disapprove of his handling of “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Overall approval of Trump’s presidency stood at a low of 37 percent.
Shireen Akram-Boshar is a socialist writer, editor and Middle East/North Africa solidarity activist
