Trump secretly weighs 'finishing the job' in Iran as Vance lets slip grim new strategy

By PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 13:01, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 13:26, 1 July 2026 Donald Trump is secretly weighing a return to war with Iran, with JD Vance letting slip that the White House sees the peace talks as little more than a chance to refill the world's oil stocks. The President has held secret talks recently with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Daine Caine on resuming full-scale attacks on the Iranian regime, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The classified conversations with Trump have centered around what some officials call 'finishing the job.' Trump, however, is also worried that such an attack would permanently derail efforts to reach a deal to dismantle Iran's nuclear program.  He is reportedly open to letting negotiations extend beyond the August 18 deadline if progress is made with the regime. Trump has said he is currently satisfied with ordering temporary strikes on Iran whenever it violates the ceasefire. That policy sparked back-and-forth fighting over the Strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening to destroy the current negotiations. The Vice President, meanwhile, revealed in a recent interview that Trump's current negotiations with the regime are motivated by the US desire to refill the world's oil supply rather than long-term peace with Iran. 'I think what the President has told us to do is use this MOU to sort of refill the world's oil economy, to refill some stocks. And then to see where the hand is,' Vance said. he President has held secret talks recently with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Daine Caine on resuming full-scale attacks on the Iranian regime The Vice President, meanwhile, revealed in a recent interview that Trump's current negotiations with the regime are motivated by the US desire to refill the world's oil supply rather than long-term peace with Iran The regime warned that any violation there would be treated as a violation of the entire ceasefire, and that the US and Israel would face the 'consequences' of their actions The classified conversations with Trump have centered around what some officials call 'finishing the job' The violence erupted last week after Iran unleashed a swarm of one-way suicide drones on US-backed cargo ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The US military responded by destroying Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as radar sites along the Persian Gulf. 'Violence will be met with violence...there were attacks on commercial vessels that the United States of America, directed by the President, responded to,' Leavitt said. In upcoming negotiations US diplomats are demanding that the regime abandon its nuclear ambitions and handover their stockpile of enrich uranium. Iran wants to jointly control the Strait of Hormuz as well as for the US unfreeze billions in frozen assets in the Middle East. Since the war began, Iran has been able to close the Strait of Hormuz by deploying speedboats, drones and sea mines. The Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.   The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.