Ultimatums, diplomacy and a detour to Graceland as Trump seeks a deal with Iran

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1359 EAT on Tuesday 24 March 2026

America may be at war, but President Donald Trump’s activities over the past few days have combined diplomacy, diversions, and the occasional surreal turn.

On Friday, Trump declared that the US conflict with Iran was “winding down.” By Saturday night, however, he had issued Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face new American airstrikes.

The following day, he played golf and spent the afternoon at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

By Monday morning, as global markets tumbled, Trump said Iran was engaging in “constructive” talks with the US. Later, he flew to Memphis, Tennessee, where he delivered a speech and visited Graceland, the historic home of music legend Elvis Presley.

Meanwhile, US and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets continued, while Iran fired missiles and launched drones against US forces and regional allies. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained constrained.

Trump’s Saturday-night ultimatum had been stark: if Iran did not allow full access to the strait for international shipping, the US would target Iranian energy infrastructure, potentially plunging the nation into darkness. Iran responded by threatening to strike regional energy and water facilities, raising the prospect of further escalation in the three-week conflict with potentially severe consequences for civilians.

By Monday morning, Trump had temporarily called off the strikes. According to the president, contact with an unnamed Iranian leader – which has not been confirmed by Tehran – was sufficient to warrant a five-day pause in the threatened attacks.

Throughout the day, Trump struck an optimistic tone as he traveled to Tennessee for a visit he said had been planned weeks earlier.

From the tarmac before his departure, President Donald Trump said the US and Iran had “major points of agreement.”
“They want very much to make a deal,” he said. “We’d like to make a deal, too.”

A few hours later, speaking to US National Guard personnel in Memphis, Trump described the talks with Iran as “very, very good discussions.”

“Iran has one more opportunity to end its threats to America and our allies,” he said. “We hope they take it.”

Trump then visited Graceland, Memphis’s most famous tourist attraction, highlighting a drop in the city’s crime rate—a decline he attributed to the deployment of National Guard troops on its streets.

As President Trump toured Elvis Presley’s Graceland, observing the style and tastes of the “King of Rock ’n’ Roll,” reports continued to emerge of a presidential phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and potential direct talks with Iranian officials later in the week.

Diplomatic wheels appeared to be in motion, though the lack of concrete details left observers worldwide skeptical.
Iranian state media, citing Trump’s post on Truth Social, claimed the president had backed down in the face of threats, while Iranian officials denied any substantive talks between the two nations. Trump spoke of “15 points of agreement” but offered few specifics.

Even so, the mere prospect of negotiations sent US stock markets higher and global oil prices lower. What had been shaping up as a day of economic uncertainty suddenly offered investors a glimmer of hope for a potential off-ramp from the conflict.

Trump has now returned to Washington, where a new five-day countdown to US strikes on Iranian power infrastructure is set to begin.

After a mix of ultimatums, diplomatic gestures, and a high-profile visit to the home of a rock legend, Trump may have hinted at the first sign of a breakthrough—or, as critics suggest, simply bought more time after issuing an ultimatum that put him in a tight spot.

During his Graceland tour, Trump said he was a longtime Elvis fan, noting that Hurt was his favourite song. Given the current circumstances, however, It’s Now or Never may have been a more fitting choice.

-BBC

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