Former Trump national security adviser: More Iran talks ‘probably a waste of time’

Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to President Trump, agreed with the president’s pessimism around negotiating with Tehran officials to end the Iran war.

Trump told reporters Wednesday he did not “want to deal with [Iran] anymore” and called the country’s negotiators “scum” at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

“At this point, it probably is a waste of time, from what the president said in Ankara over the last couple days, that this is essentially not a group you can deal with,” Coates told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on Thursday.

Iran and the U.S. have exchanged strikes this week over accused violations of a ceasefire agreement. The two sides signed a framework agreement to restart peace negotiations last month.

On Wednesday, Trump declared the temporary halt in fighting was “over.” While he refused to work with Tehran to resolve the dispute, the president said he would “speak to our negotiators.”

“They want to negotiate. They’re good people,” he told reporters. “But they have to come back to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with [Iran].”

Coates also addressed concerns about rising energy rates resulting from the conflict, citing “record high oil production” evidenced in a new report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday.

The EIA found the U.S. produced more crude oil than any other country in 2025, an average of 13.6 million barrels per day, well above Russia’s daily average of 9.9 million and Saudi Arabia’s of 9.6 million.

“We’ve seen this massive jump,” Coates said, referring to U.S. oil production. “We’re now by far and away the biggest oil producer in the world.”