President Donald Trump will hit Iran harder if Tehran fails to accept that the country has been "defeated militarily," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 25, 2026. Reuters/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump will hit Iran harder if Tehran fails to accept that the country has been "defeated militarily," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.
"President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again," Leavitt told reporters in a press briefing.
"If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before," she said.
As the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its fourth week, there have been efforts by multiple countries such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt to mediate.
Iran is still reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war, despite an initial response that was negative, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, indicating that Tehran had so far stopped short of rejecting it outright.
Talks with Iran were still under way, Leavitt said. "Talks continue. They are productive, as the president said on Monday, and they continue to be," she added.
Citing unnamed sources, media outlets on Tuesday reported that Washington sent Tehran a 15-point plan on ending the war. Leavitt said on Wednesday that elements of the reports were not fully accurate, but she did not provide specifics.
"The White House never confirmed that full plan. There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual, so I am not going to negotiate on behalf of the president here at the podium," Leavitt said.
Global equity markets regained some ground while oil prices dipped on Wednesday after the reports about the plan, with investors hoping for an end to a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and raised inflation concerns.
By Nandita Bose and Humeyra Pamuk
Saudi Arabia expects imminent coordinated attacks from Iraqi militias north of the Gulf state and from Yemen's Houthis from the south under the supervision of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a senior Saudi official said.
An Iranian parliamentary committee is reviewing a preliminary bill that would bar U.S., Israeli and other "hostile" vessels from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a lawmaker.
With President Donald Trump’s war against Iran now in its sixth month, this week's flurry of threats and diplomacy has underscored the ever-tighter bind he finds himself in as he tries to extricate the U.S. from an unpopular conflict he originally claimed would last just weeks.
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