U.S. markets surged and oil prices cratered Monday after President Trump announced the United States has held direct talks with Iranian officials and is “very intent” on reaching a deal to end hostilities in the Middle East.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped roughly 900 points, or nearly two percent, as news of the diplomatic contact broke, Breitbart reports. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 each climbed more than one percent. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller companies, leaped nearly three percent. Every sector of the S&P 500 finished in the green.
Oil markets moved sharply in the opposite direction. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, fell below $100 per barrel, tumbling more than 10 percent. West Texas Intermediate dropped by a similar margin.
Trump disclosed the talks in a Truth Social post Monday, writing that the U.S. and Iran had held “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”
In a phone interview with CNBC, Trump said simply: “We are very intent on making a deal with Iran.”
The president told reporters in Palm Beach that his son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had met Sunday evening with “a top person” in Iran.
“They want, very much to make a deal. We’d like to make a deal too,” Trump said. “We’re going to get together today by, probably, phone, because it’s very hard for them to get out, I guess. But we’ll, at some point, very, very soon, meet.”
Trump also floated the prospect of the U.S. and Iran sharing joint control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil shipping chokepoints.
Iranian state media pushed back on the claims, calling Trump’s description of talks “psychological warfare” and denying any direct contact had taken place.
The disclosure came after weeks of intensifying military pressure on Tehran. U.S. strikes in the region have disrupted Iranian oil flows, squeezed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and driven up costs for China, which purchases an estimated 80 to 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports.
Trump had also separately ordered the Defense Department to postpone planned strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, citing the productive state of diplomatic talks.
The administration’s earlier temporary easing of sanctions on Iranian oil already aboard tankers had indicated some appetite for de-escalation, but Monday marked the first time Trump had publicly confirmed direct talks at a senior level.
Kushner’s involvement drew immediate attention in Washington. He played a central role in brokering the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term and has maintained back-channel relationships across the Gulf region.
