PANews reported on April 5th, citing Axios, that US President Trump stated in a phone interview that the US is engaged in "deep negotiations" with Iran and hopes to reach an agreement before Tuesday's deadline. "The chances of reaching an agreement are very high, but if they don't, I will destroy everything there," he said. When asked if he was concerned about harming innocent civilians, Trump stated that he believes Iranians opposed to his government would support such strikes to weaken the regime.

In a roughly eight-minute phone interview, Trump stated that his special envoys, Witkov and Kushner, were engaged in intensive negotiations with Iran. Two sources involved in the negotiations said communication was taking place both through intermediaries such as Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey, and via text messages between Trump's advisors and Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi. "The negotiations are going well, but dealing with the Iranians is never a one-way street," Trump said. He also stated that the two sides had come close to reaching an agreement on direct talks a few days earlier. "But they said they'd meet again in five days. I asked, why five days? I felt they weren't serious enough. So I attacked that bridge," Trump said.