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US Politics · The United States and Iran

Trump says US needs no Iran deal, shifts Vance to alleged fraud in Democratic-run states

Trump named Minnesota, California and Illinois among the states he calls corrupt. Oil prices rose and stocks fell after the post, Axios reports.

Donald Trump in 2026
Donald Trump in 2026. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
32 news outlets reported this
Liberal13 outletsVance's rebuke of the war and Trump's replyCenter5 outletsTrump's post deepens uncertainty over Iran planConservative14 outletsTrump's fraud directive and Vance's existing task force
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min readMoney and daily life
Overview

President Donald Trump said on Thursday, Nov. 12, that the United States does not need a deal with Iran. In Truth Social posts, he said the US has Iran's money, "Hundreds of Billions of Dollars," and its Strait, meaning the . He also asked Vice President JD Vance to give his "complete and total attention" to what Trump calls corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states.

Trump named Minnesota, California and Illinois and said billions of dollars are stolen in blue states each month. Vance has led US efforts to negotiate with Iran, including talks in Pakistan in April. He also chairs the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which Fox News says Trump set up with a March 16 .

The Journal reported on Wednesday that Vance was considering meeting a senior Iranian security official, and Reuters has not confirmed it. After the elections, in which Republicans lost control of , Vance blamed the losses in part on the Iran war and its effect on the cost of living. Oil prices rose and stocks fell after Trump's posts, according to Axios.

Vance's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Key figures
  • Hundreds of Billions of DollarsIranian money the US has, in Trump's wordsYahoo News
  • Billions of Dollarsallegedly stolen each month in blue states, per TrumpFox News
  • $92.22 a barrelBrent crude price at Thursday's openThe American Conservative
  • $260.7 billionsuspected fraud identified by Vance's task force, not independently verifiedFox News
  • $3.91AAA national average per gallon of gasolineThe American Conservative

Three sides of the story

13Liberal5Center14Conservative

32 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal13 outlets

Vance's rebuke of the war and Trump's reply

The Independent's headline says Trump "orders Vance to drop his work on Iran deal" and calls it an abrupt shift for a vice president who spent months leading negotiating delegations. Axios leads with the order and says oil prices surged and stocks sank after the post. Yahoo News, running Reuters, opens with Trump saying the US does not need a deal and recalls Vance's April talks in Pakistan and a June memorandum that paused the war but "broke down within weeks."

The Daily Beast calls it a "Humiliating Slap Down" after Vance's election blame and quotes his line that "everyone knows why we lost." The Boston Globe runs a wire report saying the post "deepens questions" about Trump's plan and that federal data does not support his suggestion that fraud is more prevalent under Democrats. The Independent and Axios add that crime statistics have not consistently backed Trump's claims about Democratic cities.

Center5 outlets

Trump's post deepens uncertainty over Iran plan

The Seattle Times runs a shared wire report headlined "Trump says he's pulling Vance off Iran talks to focus on fraud campaign." It says the post "deepens questions" about how Trump will end the war and lists options he has weighed: heavier strikes, stepping back so Arab allies take it on, or keeping the status quo. It describes Vance's letter, sent through Qatari mediators to Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, proposing renewed talks, and says Trump said he was ending that effort.

It notes a Minnesota fraud probe with scores of arrests and says federal figures do not back the claim about Democrats. It adds that Trump has granted in fraud cases to more than 70 people, among them allies and donors. It also quotes Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi: "Our 2-day proposal stands."

The Wall Street Journal's news headline says Trump told Vance, who has taken the lead in the Iran talks, to turn to investigating Democratic-run cities, and that the US does not need a deal with Iran.

Conservative14 outlets

Trump's fraud directive and Vance's existing task force

Fox News headlines Trump asking Vance to focus on "corruption and crime" in Dem-run cities and states, and says Trump gave no specific examples of how billions are stolen. It describes the March 16 executive order behind Vance's task force and says its reported $260.7 billion in suspected fraud has not been independently verified. The Daily Mail says Trump "sidelines"

Vance and "kills off" his Iran deal, cites the Wall Street Journal on Trump privately disparaging the June memorandum, and reports a White House official denied Trump expressed regret. The American Conservative's "Iran War Day 258" says Trump appeared to favor an economic war on Iran without high-intensity combat, and gives crude at $92.22. The Epoch Times quotes Vance's post blaming the war and reports Iran's claim that two tankers halted after an explosion.

Townhall says Vance played a key role in Iran talks.

What a side did not mention
Money and daily life

For drivers, AAA reports national averages of $3.91 a gallon for gasoline and $6.10 for diesel, according to The American Conservative. Per that same outlet, Brent crude opened trading at $92.22 a barrel, then climbed after Trump's statement. Axios reports oil prices surged and stocks sank after the post.

All sources: 40 articles from 32 outlets

Liberal (18)

Center (6)

Conservative (16)

The United States and Iran
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  3. Trump says US needs no Iran deal, shifts Vance to alleged fraud in Democratic-run statesThis story
  4. Democratic senators say they will oppose any funding deal without Iran war limits
  5. UN nuclear watchdog voices growing concern over Iranian enrichment plant it cannot inspect
All stories on this topic
Strait of Hormuz

The narrow sea passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which tankers leave the Persian Gulf. About a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through it, so any threat there moves fuel prices worldwide.

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Executive order

A president's written order to federal agencies. It cannot override a law passed by Congress, courts can block it, and the next president can cancel it.

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Wall Street

A street in New York where the stock exchange stands. In the news it means US financial markets and the big banks and investment firms as a whole.

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Midterm elections

US elections halfway through a president's four-year term. The whole House, a third of the Senate and many governors are elected. In 2026 Election Day was November 3.

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Congress

The US parliament: the Senate and the House of Representatives. A bill becomes law when both pass it and the president signs it.

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Clemency and commutation

Mercy a president or governor grants a convicted person. A commutation shortens the sentence but the conviction stands, a pardon forgives the crime, and a reprieve only delays the punishment.

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Brent crude and the barrel

Brent is the benchmark price for most of the world's oil, and WTI is the US benchmark. Oil is priced per barrel, about 159 litres.

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