Trump live: President says US ‘very close’ to a nuclear deal with Iran

Donald Trump has said after wrapping up his visit in the United Arab Emirates today, it was “almost destination unknown” as to where he goes next.

However, speaking to reporters on Thursday Trump said he would likely return to the White House on Friday.

“So we’ll be leaving tomorrow, as you know, almost destination unknown … But probably going back to Washington, DC tomorrow,” he said.

Trump had previously suggested he could travel to Turkey if it would be aid negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

He is currently attending a business summit in U.A.E.’s capital Abu Dhabi, and will later visit the Abrahamic Family House which is home to a mosque, a church and a synagogue.

U.S. law enforcement is investigating a social media post by former FBI Director James Comey which included a picture with “8647”, which some Donald Trump supporters have interpreted as a threat against the president.

Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017, Comey posted an Instagram photo of the number 8647 formed by seashells on the beach.

“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey said.

But after the uproar from Trump supporters, Comey took the post down, saying he had assumed it was merely a “political message” and was unaware it could have been associated with violence.

In U.S. parlance the number 86 can be used as verb meaning to throw somebody out of a bar for being drunk or disorderly, and 47 is code for Trump, the 47th president. Some Trump supporters interpreted the message as one to violently remove Trump from office, including by assassination.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Secret Service, said on X that DHS and Secret Service were “investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”

Current FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that his agency was in communication with the Secret Service about the post and “will provide all necessary support.”

Donald Trump says the U.S. and Iran are “very close” to securing a deal that would see America drop its longstanding sanctions and Iran give up the prospect of developing a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at a business leaders summit on Thursday in Qatar, Trump said they were “getting close” to securing a deal as Iran had “sort of” agreed to terms.

“They’re not going to make, I call it, in a friendly way, nuclear dust. We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran,” he said.

“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this.”

Trump has repeatedly said that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. U.S. and Iranian negotiators have met four times since the start of April in a bid to secure a deal.

During the last stop on his Gulf nations tour, Donald Trump secured deals with the United Arab Emirates worth more than $200 billion and an agreement to enhance cooperation on artificial intelligence.

Following Trump’s meeting with Emirati president, President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the White House said the deals included a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to invest in 28 Boeing aircraft powered by engines made by GE Aerospace.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the two countries also agreed to establish a “US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership” framework and Trump and Sheikh Mohamed attended the unveiling of a new 5GW AI campus, which would be the largest outside the United States.

Before making the deals Trump visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, its white minarets and domes, impressive in the late-afternoon light.

“It is so beautiful,” Trump told reporters inside the mosque, which he said had been closed for the day.

“First time they closed it. It’s in honor of the United States. Better than in honor of me. Let’s give it to the country. That’s a great tribute.”

Donald Trump flew to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday for the final leg of his Middle East tour.

Donald Trump and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet at the White House next week.

Experts say there’s little evidence of a genocide in South Africa against white farmers, who own roughly 70 percent of commercial farmland despite making up about 7 percent of the population, a legacy of the country’s apartheid past.

Read the full report here:

The House Budget Committee is set to vote on the bill on Friday, which would tee it up for a floor vote before it goes to the U.S. Senate. But conservatives, particularly those in the hardline House Freedom Caucus, do not believe that the bill goes far enough in spending cuts.

Read the full report below:

Democrats are not doing themselves any favors with their reactions to the new book on Joe Biden coming out soon, as John Bowden writes: