Trump in Las Vegas "Hormuz Deal Could Come Today"
President blends Working Families Tax Cuts message with his most optimistic Iran statement yet, saying "a lot of progress" has been made and a Strait of Hormuz agreement may arrive the same day, while touting denuclearization as a done deal
WASHINGTON, D. C. (Kurdistan 24) - President Donald Trump delivered his most personal and optimistic public remarks yet on the Iran conflict during a campaign-style economic rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday telling a crowd at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa that Iran respects the United States, that he prefers a deal over killing people, and that a Strait of Hormuz agreement could arrive the same day, in statements that blended a midterm economic message with a foreign policy breakthrough that may be hours away.
"I would rather make a deal with Iran because I don't want to kill people," Trump told the audience gathered in Summerlin at 1:30 p.m. local time. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."
He then struck a tone of measured confidence about the state of the relationship with Tehran that stood in sharp contrast to the nine consecutive nights of American airstrikes that preceded Saturday's diplomatic turn. "Iran respects us. They respect us. We're talking. Let's see what happens," Trump said, framing the current moment as one of genuine mutual engagement rather than coerced compliance.
As the National News Network Desk reported on Wednesday, the president said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday, describing the progress in negotiations as significant. "A lot of progress" has been made, Trump told the audience, in the most optimistic public American assessment of the Hormuz talks since Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Monday that ships and oil are already moving through the strait in real time and that a final agreement is expected "very shortly."
Trump also used his Las Vegas social media activity during the visit to frame the Iran conflict in unmistakably triumphant terms. As Casino.org reported on Wednesday, Trump declared in a Truth Social post during the Las Vegas trip that his real polling numbers are "the best they have ever been," listing "the Denuclearization of Iran" as a completed achievement alongside his economic record, suggesting the president views the nuclear commitment as effectively secured rather than still pending formal confirmation.
The White House has published a formal document cataloguing 74 separate occasions on which Trump has stated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, spanning more than two years of public statements across both his second campaign and his presidency. Wednesday's Las Vegas remarks added a new dimension to that long-standing position, coupling the nuclear red line with an explicit expression of preference for diplomacy and a direct acknowledgment that Iran is engaging Washington with a degree of respect that suggests genuine willingness to settle.
The domestic backdrop of the Las Vegas visit added its own layer of political urgency to the Iran remarks. Trump spoke at Red Rock Casino Resort in a state where Nevada's service-heavy economy makes the "No Tax on Tips" policy among the most resonant in the Working Families Tax Cuts package. Gas prices in Northern Nevada had hit $5 a gallon again, as Fox 5 Las Vegas reported on Wednesday, underscoring the direct economic stakes of the Iran conflict for American consumers and giving the president every political incentive to close a Hormuz deal quickly, with midterm elections three months away and his approval rating below 39 percent.
As the Washington Times reported on Monday, August 3, 2026, Trump had outlined in Oval Office remarks that the Hormuz opening is the first phase of any final deal, with denuclearization forming the second, longer-term phase. Wednesday's Las Vegas statements, describing Iranian respect and active talks while listing denuclearization as effectively achieved, suggest that in Trump's own framing both phases are now moving toward resolution simultaneously rather than sequentially.
A Hormuz deal announced from Las Vegas on the same day as a midterm economic rally would represent one of the most dramatic single-day political reversals of his presidency, combining a foreign policy breakthrough with a domestic economic message in a critical swing state three months before the election that will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress.