Lankford says Trump ‘has no desire’ to bomb Iran

Senate Lankford says Trump ‘has no desire’ to bomb Iran Comments: by Max Rego - 08/02/26 10:13 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 08/02/26 10:13 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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GOP Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) argued Sunday that President Trump “has no desire” to bomb Iran, hours after the president halted planned strikes on the Middle Eastern country.

“The president’s still focused on trying to be able to get a deal,” Lankford told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”

The Oklahoma Republican later said, “We have the capability to be able to bomb them back to the Stone Age, but there’s no desire to be able to do that. We use military force, and the president’s been very careful on using military force only to be able to get them to the table to actually negotiate.”

Late Saturday night, Trump said while the U.S. military remains “locked and loaded” for strikes against the Islamic Republic, he was calling off an attack at the urging of Iran and other Middle Eastern nations after Iranian officials agreed to the “perimeters” of a deal.

“This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” the president noted, adding that the Israeli government is on board.

The U.S. and Israel launched the war in late February with the state intention of eliminating the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capabilities.

But during the conflict, Iran’s restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have rocked energy markets globally — with a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. costing roughly $1.10 more, as of Sunday, than it did just two days before the conflict began, according to AAA.

Lankford said Sunday the two tenets of a deal with Iran — the reopening of the strait and the Islamic Republic curbing its own nuclear program — should “not be unrealistic expectations for any civilized nation.”

Yet throughout the war, Trump has announced the agreement of a deal, only for the two sides to continue fighting after Iranian officials dismiss the president’s overtures. Lankford acknowledged that reality, telling Bream the Iranian government is a “lying, deceptive dictatorship”

He added, “Usually diplomacy is the best way to be able to resolve it long term. But when you have to use force, to get people to do diplomacy, you have to use force.”

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