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

Donald Trump has warned the U.S. could be forced to take a “violent course” with Iran if the friendly course of action does not work.

Speaking in Qatar during his three-nation tour of the Middle East, the president said Iran has to make a decision as the two countries continue to negotiate the potential lifting of American sanctions if Iran abandons its nuclear development program.

“The non-friendly is a violent course and I don’t want that… They have to get moving. They have to make that decision,” he said.

The president also appealed to Qatar for help.

“I hope you can help me with the Iran situation,” he said.

“It’s a perilous situation, and we want to do the right thing. We want to do it something that's going to save maybe millions of lives. Because things like that get started and they get out of control. I've seen it over and over again. They go to war and things get out of control, and we're not going to let that happen.”

The president will visit a Qatari air base which had been used as a major staging ground during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as he continues his tour of gulf nations on Thursday.

Trump plans to address troops at the al-Udeid Air Base, which was also used to support the recent U.S. air strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

The Qatari base houses some 8,000 U.S. troops, down from about 10,000 at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Before visiting the base, Trump will attend a business roundtable which will include executives from Boeing, GE Aerospace and Al Rabban Capital.

Later on Thursday, the president will travel to the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, where he will visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and be honored with a state visit with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Qasr Al Watan palace.

Donald Trump said the U.S. has to give Syria “a chance”, following his surprise announcement he would be lifting long-standing sanctions on the country.

Speaking at a business summit in Qatar, Trump again praised intermin Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa.

“He's a strong guy, and I thought he was good, and let's see what happens,” the president said.

“But we're going to give [them] a fighting chance by taking off the sanctions. We've actually been praised for that.”

Speaking ahead of a business roundtable in Doha, Donald Trump has praised the business leaders.

“We're surrounded by some of the greatest business people in the world. We just had a tremendous order of Boeing,” he said, referring to the $200 billion deal signed on Wednesday.

In that deal Qatar Airways will by some 160 aircraft from the U.S. manufacturer, which Trump claimed was one of the company’s largest orders in its history.

Trump then joked about changing the engines in his plane to GE Aerospace ones.

“General Electric, I hear, makes the best large aeroplane engine in the world by not even a contest. Maybe I can change my engines one day of my plane,” he said.

Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “very serious” negotiations with Iran for a long-term peace.

The president said America was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had "sort of" agreed to the terms of an agreement.

"We're in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace," Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a pool report by AFP.

Donald Trump claimed at the business summit in Doha that India offered the U.S. a “basically zero tariff” deal.

At the start of April the president announced high “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries, including India.

During that announcement, Trump said India would face a “discounted” 26 percent tariff rate, and accused India of having “very very high tariffs” with an average duty on American goods of 52 percent.

Speaking on Thursday, Trump said: “"It's very hard to sell into India and and they've offered us a deal with what basically they're willing to literally charge us no tariff.”

Donald Trump said he wants the United States to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”.

His comments at a Qatari business summit come as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Palestinian territory.

“Well, we're working very hard on Gaza, and Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction for many,” he said.

“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” he said, as reports Agence France-Presse reports.

“I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.”