Trump says he's in 'no rush' to decide on resuming the Iran war; Vance upbeat on a deal as oil falls

REPORT

President Trump told Axios in a phone interview Monday that he is "in no rush" to decide whether to resume fighting in Iran. "One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush. We crippled them financially," he said.

Hours later he posted on Truth Social that oil prices were "DROPPING LIKE A ROCK, down almost $10 a Barrel... because people feel that there will not be a War with Iran. Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!" Vice President JD Vance told reporters that he and Trump "both feel pretty good about the prospects" for a negotiated settlement, while insisting Iran make a verifiable commitment not to rebuild its nuclear program.

Qatari mediator Ali al-Thawadi traveled to Tehran on Monday with a draft agreement laying out a three-day sequence of confidence-building steps meant to restart direct U.S.-Iran talks, Axios reports. According to Axios, Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff are urging a deal, while Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth want to resume strikes. Iran is still demanding sanctions relief, the release of frozen funds and an end to the blockade of its ports before discussing the nuclear issue, Antiwar.com reports.

Update, Nov. 2 (evening): Axios reports a third camp in Trump's circle: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are advising him to keep the "no war, no deal" status quo and let economic pressure work. Ratcliffe told Trump prolonged economic pain will push Iran to more concessions or create enough instability that Iranians revolt, a source told Axios; the CIA declined to comment. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Monday with Iran's security council secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, about a diplomatic deal, Axios reports.