Trump Makes U.S. Troop Deaths Iran Red Line --- President expresses reluctance to resume all-out war, except in the case of casualties

 The ceasefire is when you are killing them, but they are not allowed to kill you.

 

“President Trump has told aides privately that he would consider ending the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran kills American troops, U.S. officials said, insisting that the weekslong pause in airstrikes remains intact despite a steady stream of violent skirmishes.

 

The president's reluctance to reignite the war suggests he might be willing to withstand smaller flare-ups for weeks -- or even months -- to avoid a broader conflict in the Middle East.

 

The U.S. and Iran this week engaged in some of the most intense fighting yet since a ceasefire went into effect in early April, with Iran firing missiles and drones on regional U.S. bases and Kuwait's international airport. The attacks left one person dead.

 

The fight over control of the Strait of Hormuz has caused massive disruptions in global energy markets and international shipping, with Tehran restricting the free flow of trade in the strategic waterway and the U.S. imposing a strict blockade to and from Iran's ports.

 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the tit-for-tat attacks as purely defensive in nature and not a renewed outbreak of full-scale war.

 

"They are happening in response to an Iranian action," Rubio said in a House hearing on Wednesday. "If they don't shoot at those ships, we don't shoot, but we have to respond."

 

But U.S. officials said the repeated attacks have ratcheted up pressure on Trump and cast doubt over the long-term viability of the ceasefire. The president, meanwhile, has said repeatedly that he is on the verge of signing an end-of-war agreement that reopens the strait, dismantles Iran's nuclear work and eliminates the country's stockpile of enriched uranium.

 

Trump said he is in no rush to complete the pact, telling the New York Post in an interview published Wednesday it is unlikely -- although still possible -- that the U.S. blockade could last until Labor Day. At the same time, the president was quick to intervene and press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off a planned military offensive in Lebanon after it threatened diplomatic progress.

 

Trump and his aides vowed the conflict would last no longer than six weeks after it started on Feb. 28, saying the goal was to eliminate Tehran's nuclear and missile threat.

 

"In that part of the world, ceasefire is when you're shooting in a more moderate manner," Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

 

A White House official reiterated that Trump prefers to rid Iran of its nuclear program diplomatically but has been clear about his red lines.

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said Israeli attacks on Beirut would lead to a return to all-out war, linking the fate of that conflict with the future of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

 

The question before Trump is whether to sign an Iran agreement that falls far short of his goals, or hold out for the terms he wants but is unlikely to get.

 

For several weeks, Trump and his team have been working on a "memorandum of understanding" with Iran that would define the issues for negotiations over a roughly 60-day period. Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal last Friday, telling aides that Iran needed to make serious concessions up front.

 

Iran, however, says it would negotiate its nuclear program only after the U.S. unfreezes its assets, or provides some other financial windfall.

 

Iran also wants to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, its proxy.

 

The start-stop negotiations have bored the president, Trump himself said this week, as analysts say he is feeling the squeeze of a worsening diplomatic situation.

 

Following talks with the U.S. on Wednesday, the Israeli and Lebanese governments agreed to renew a ceasefire, but it was contingent on a cessation of hostilities with Iran-backed Hezbollah, said a joint statement released by the State Department. Hezbollah wasn't involved in the talks.” [1]

 

1. World News: Trump Makes U.S. Troop Deaths Iran Red Line --- President expresses reluctance to resume all-out war, except in the case of casualties. Ward, Alexander; Norman, Laurence; Gramer, Robbie.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 04 June 2026: A8.