Administration

Trump: ‘Lots of bombs start going off’ if Iran ceasefire expires without deal

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by Max Rego - 04/20/26 3:35 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/20/26 3:35 PM ET

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President Trump told PBS News on Monday that “lots of bombs” will go off in Iran if the ceasefire expires without a deal.

“Then lots of bombs start going off,” Trump told reporter Liz Landers over the phone, when she asked what would happen if the ceasefire lapses without a peace agreement.

Trump told Bloomberg on Monday that the truce, which began on April 8, expires on “Wednesday evening Washington time,” adding that he is “highly unlikely” to extend it if his administration and Iranian officials cannot reach a deal.

The president has repeatedly threatened Iran with further bombings, after 1,701 civilians, including at least 254 children, in the Middle Eastern country were killed in the first 39 days of U.S.-Israeli strikes prior to the ceasefire, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

With the ceasefire deadline rapidly approaching, Trump administration officials are set to head to Islamabad, Pakistan, this week for a second round of peace talks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Hill on Sunday that Vice President Vance will lead that delegation, which also includes U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.

The Hill has reached out to Vance’s office for clarification on when he will depart for Islamabad.

Iran has sent mixed signals on whether it will participate in the talks. Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Asim Munir, a key mediator in the talks, reportedly told Trump that the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz was a “hurdle” to continued diplomacy.

Trump denied that Munir advised him to drop the blockade in a call with The Hill on Monday morning. In a Truth Post later in the day, he doubled down on his insistence for a deal before the U.S. will allow ships to come and go from Iranian ports.

As for whether Iranian officials will be in Islamabad, Trump told PBS News, “I don’t know.” Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters Monday that the regime has “no plans for the next round of negotiations” with the U.S.

“I mean, they’re supposed to be there,” Trump said of Iranian officials. “We agreed to be there, although they say we didn’t. But no, it was set up. And we’ll see whether or not it’s there. If they’re not there, that’s fine too.”

Asked what he wants from negotiations in Islamabad, Trump repeated that Iran “cannot have” a nuclear weapon.

“We’re not negotiating anything other than the fact that they will not have a nuclear weapon,” he told PBS News. “And that’s pretty basic when you get right down to it.”

Julia Manchester contributed reporting.

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