US President Donald Trump departs after making an announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on February 12, 2026. AFP
"We have to make a deal, otherwise it's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don't want that to happen, but we have to make a deal," Trump told reporters a day after he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
"This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don't make a deal."
Trump said he hoped for a result "over the next month" from Washington's negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
Trump, who is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to pressure Iran, recalled the U.S. military strikes he ordered on Tehran's nuclear facilities during Israel's 12-day war with Iran in July last year.
"We'll see if we can get a deal with them, and if we can't, we'll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them," Trump said.
Netanyahu had traveled to Washington to push Trump to take a harder line in the Iran nuclear talks, particularly on including Tehran's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
But the Israeli and US leaders apparently remained at odds, with Trump saying after their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he had insisted the negotiations should continue.
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