FILE PHOTO: Jared Kushner applauds during U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/NATHAN HOWARD/File Photo
NBC News reporter Garrett Haak couldn't help but notice that the White House seems very confused about the status of negotiations with Iran.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social saying, "There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"
But Haak explained that this contrasts significantly with what the White House said on Monday.
"White House messaging on Iran is a mess today," said Haak. "Special Envoy Jared Kushner told @TreyYingst yesterday 'We are having very positive and active conversations' with Iran - 'probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been.' Then POTUS contradicts today."
Senior analyst Gregory Brew at the Eurasia Group similarly pointed out that Kushner called the talks "robust" less than 24 hours previously.
It isn't the first time the administration has had to change its messaging on Iran after Trump made a statement about it.
Trump initially said the mission was to destroy Iran’s ballistic-missile program and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That then changed as Trump declared that there could be “no deal” except Iran’s “unconditional surrender."
Trump also promised that his conflict could take four weeks or less. He later estimated four to five weeks. As of Tuesday, 171 days have passed since the U.S. first bombed Iran.
In June, Trump announced that he had canceled planned strikes because negotiators had reached a “great settlement,” and he expected to sign it within days. There's still no deal two months later.
"One of the rules of deal-making is that you have to know very quickly if there's a deal to do or not," a U.S. official told Axios in February as the war was beginning.
A senior Trump administration official told journalists in a White House call in March, “So basically, we came back to the President. We said, Look, if you want us to make ... a deal, like an Obama kind of deal, maybe it would be an Obama plus deal, we could probably get one done."
At the beginning of July, Trump proclaimed, "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."
Trump also posted a graphic of the Strait of Hormuz calling it a new U.S. territory, implying he was ready to take it over.