Trump cancels Kushner, Witkoff trip to Pakistan for Iran talks

President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip to Pakistan by his top envoys for negotiations over the Iran conflict, raising questions about the durability of the current ceasefire.

The president on Saturday told his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff to skip the trip, adding in a social media post that there has been "Too much time wasted on traveling."

"Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.' Nobody knows who is in charge, including them," Trump wrote. "If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!"

Trump later told reporters he hasn't "even thought about" what this means for the tentative ceasefire, as all sides try to figure out what's next in the conflict. Even as the outlook for more U.S.-Iran talks remained unclear, a separate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon appeared to be breaking down, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering his country's military to strike Hezbollah targets.

Earlier Saturday, Iran's top diplomat met mediators in Pakistan and left Islamabad well ahead of the planned arrival of U.S. envoys.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called his visit to Pakistan "very fruitful" but added in a social media post that Iran has "yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy."

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a social media post that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior leaders met with Araghchi for about two hours. The state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday that Araghchi left the city after those talks.

Trump told reporters Saturday before boarding Air Force One that Iran had "offered a lot but not enough" in a written document. He added that Iran responded quickly to his decision to cancel the trip by U.S. envoys. "Interestingly, immediately, when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better," Trump said, without offering additional details. Iran didn't immediately acknowledge that any fresh offer was made.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had said earlier that the Iranians originally reached out to the U.S. to arrange the fresh round of talks. But Araghchi had said the purpose of his travel was to consult with partners on bilateral matters and his office refrained from portraying the meetings as mediation by Pakistan.

The U.S. has been trying to increase pressure on Iran with a continued naval blockade aimed at forcing Tehran into a deal that would end a war that has already killed more than 5,000 people, mostly in Iran.

Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot any boat putting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, after the military intercepted two oil supertankers that tried to evade the blockade.

Energy traders had been closely tracking signals on whether peace talks would again take place and offer some relief. On Friday, West Texas Intermediate fell 1.5% after the White House had said it was sending Kushner and Witkoff to Pakistan.

Conflicting messaging from both sides meant that WTI futures were still up 13% last week, the largest jump since the initial surge triggered by the war in early March.

The war in Iran has been dubbed the biggest supply shock in the history of the global oil market by the International Energy Agency, as the choking off of Hormuz disrupts a fifth of global oil flows. As prices surge, traders are now bracing for a subsequent crash in demand as consumption recalibrates lower to align with supply that's dropped at least 10%.

Eroding ceasefire

In nearby Lebanon, there were fresh signs that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants - which Trump announced on Thursday would be extended by three weeks - was breaking down. Netanyahu's office issued a statement Saturday that the prime minister had ordered Israeli Defense Forces to "forcefully" attack militants targets in Lebanon, but offered no additional details.

The ceasefire, which originally went into effect on April 17, came after almost two months of fighting, was triggered by Hezbollah's decision to join Tehran's retaliation against the joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran by targeting Israel's northern communities.

Fighting escalated as Israel invaded southern Lebanon, killing over 2,000 and displacing over 1 million, to create what it calls an "extended security zone."

During the ceasefire, Israel and Lebanon kicked off direct talks in Washington - the first in over three decades - led by the countries' ambassadors to the U.S. But no significant progress was reported after the first two rounds.

The ceasefire started to crack last Tuesday - on Israel's Independence Day - when Hezbollah attacked Israeli soldiers, setting off sirens in Israel. In the days that followed attacks spilled further across the border targeting Israeli communities.

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(With assistance from Patrick Sykes, Millie Munshi, María Paula Mijares Torres, Sam Kim and Susanne Barton.)

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 2:03 PM.