'Sleazebag hoax': Trump explodes over $30 billion nuclear incentive for Iran report

US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jun 27) angrily rejected media reports suggesting his administration had considered offering Iran as much as $30 billion in economic incentives to build civilian nuclear facilities in exchange for halting uranium enrichment. Slamming reports by what Trump labelled as "fake news media", Trump questioned who was the "sleazebag" saying he wants to give Iran $30 billion to build non-nuclear facilities. "Never heard of this ridiculous idea," Trump posted late Friday on Truth Social. On Thursday, CNN, citing anonymous sources, reported that the Trump administration was exploring economic incentives for Tehran. The report was also carried by NBC News on Friday.

Ridiculous 'hoax'

"Who in the Fake News Media is the SleazeBag saying that 'President Trump wants to give Iran $30 Billion to build non-military Nuclear facilities.' Never heard of this ridiculous idea," Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Friday, calling the reports a "HOAX."

"It’s just another HOAX put out by the Fake News in order to demean. These people are SICK!!!" he said.

His comments come in response to reports by the reputed news outlets like CNN and NBC News, which, citing multiple sources, claimed that preliminary proposals were floated by US officials in recent days as part of ongoing indirect talks between Washington and Tehran. Those discussions, which began in April, are aimed at finding a diplomatic path forward for Iran's nuclear programme, which Iran says is peaceful and the US says must be prevented from reaching weapons capability.

What did the reports claim the US was offering?

According to the reports, one proposal involved unfreezing Iranian assets — potentially totalling up to $30 billion — in exchange for a freeze on uranium enrichment, a central demand of Western negotiators.

The controversy comes just days after Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel following a brief but dangerous 12-day war that erupted on June 13. That conflict began when Israel launched a surprise wave of airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, prompting Iran to retaliate with ballistic missile strikes on a US airbase in Qatar. No casualties were reported.

The US then entered the conflict directly, striking Iran's nuclear infrastructure with bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles. According to the Pentagon, six Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs were dropped on the fortified Fordow facility, while dozens of submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles targeted Natanz and Isfahan.