Mike Baker

remain far apart on any deal to end the conflict.

The president told the Iranians they could negotiate by telephone instead.

Trump told reporters, quote, they can call me.

We have all the cards, end quote.

Now, here's how this came together and why it ultimately fell apart.

Trump had Special Envoy Witkoff, his son-in-law Kushner, and senior aides tied to Vice President J.D.

Vance all lined up for a round of indirect talks with Iran.

As you know, Pakistan has been acting as mediator, relaying messages back and forth, trying to keep some kind of diplomatic track alive after almost two months of war.

Then, just before wheels up, Trump canceled the trip.

The administration has been pressing Iran to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium and to pull back its nuclear program.

And by all indications, Tehran hasn't come close to meeting those demands.

Trump made that clear.

He said the Iranians sent over what he described as a proposal that, quote, should have been better.

In other words, he didn't view it as a serious deal.

Now, there was a follow up shortly after that, one the president called, quote, much better, but still nowhere near where the administration wants it.

So instead of sending his team halfway across the world, he's shifting the pressure back onto the Iranian regime, this time telling them to, you know, pick up the phone, give me a call.

And there's another layer here.

The officials Iran was putting forward for these talks were not at the level that the White House expected.

That left the administration believing that Iran is simply slow-walking and avoiding good-faith negotiations, pretty much as they have for, I don't know, since 1979.

We now know that Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, left Islamabad just ahead of the scheduled talks.