Trump, Macron seek to resolve differences on Iran deal

U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to try to resolve U.S.-European differences on Iran but Trump gave no clear signal about whether he would carry out a threat to abandon an international nuclear deal with Tehran. After lengthy talks at the White House, Macron told a joint news conference […]

U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to try to resolve U.S.-European differences on Iran but Trump gave no clear signal about whether he would carry out a threat to abandon an international nuclear deal with Tehran.

After lengthy talks at the White House, Macron told a joint news conference with Trump that they had discussed “a new deal” that would strengthen the 2015 accord along the lines Trump wants, such as by addressing Iran’s expansion in the Middle East and its ballistic missile program. 

But with a deadline on U.S. economic sanctions against Iran looming next month, it was unclear whether the two allies made substantial progress on the future of the nuclear deal, which the West sees as vital to preventing Iran from building a nuclear bomb. 

Trump continued his hostile rhetoric toward the nuclear deal, calling it terrible, ridiculous and insane and threatening Iran with repercussions should it restart its nuclear program.