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Trump Announces Historic Iran Deal, Followed By Collapse Of Historic Iran Deal, Announces Replacement Historic Iran Deal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump announced today that he had secured a major agreement with Iran preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"It's done," Trump told reporters. "They've agreed. Everybody's very happy."
Iranian officials responded by saying no agreement had been reached.
White House officials later clarified that negotiations were still ongoing.
Trump subsequently clarified that the deal had already been completed.
"The negotiations are ongoing," he said. "But the deal is done."
Administration officials spent much of the afternoon attempting to explain the distinction.
According to several sources, the current U.S. position is that a deal exists, may soon exist, does not yet exist, and has already succeeded.
One senior official described the situation as "fluid."
Another described it as "very fluid."
A third described it as "mostly vapor at this point."
By midday, reporters covering the negotiations had begun maintaining separate timelines for diplomatic developments and presidential statements after discovering the two rarely overlapped.
At 12:08 p.m., Trump stated that Iran had accepted the central terms of the agreement.
At 12:14 p.m., Iranian officials publicly rejected those terms.
At 12:18 p.m., Trump reiterated that Iran had accepted them.
At 12:24 p.m., a White House spokesperson said discussions remained ongoing.
At 12:31 p.m., Trump described the agreement as a completed success.
Asked whether Iran had agreed to it, he replied, "That's what we're talking about."
Several networks interrupted regular programming throughout the afternoon to provide updates on the status of the agreement.
Most eventually switched to covering the status of the status of the agreement.
Inside the White House, aides reportedly circulated a series of draft statements.
The first announced a historic diplomatic breakthrough.
The second explained why the breakthrough had been misunderstood.
The third clarified that no breakthrough had actually occurred.
The fourth celebrated the administration's successful recovery from reports that no breakthrough had occurred.
According to sources familiar with the matter, all four were expected to be accurate at different points during the afternoon.
Financial markets also struggled to interpret events.
Stocks rose on reports of a breakthrough, fell on reports there was no breakthrough, then stabilized after investors concluded that whatever happened to the Middle East, the Fortune 500 would find a way to monetize it.
By late afternoon, administration officials continued expressing confidence.
"We've made tremendous progress," one aide said.
Asked what progress had been made, the aide cited the fact that everyone was still discussing the possibility of an agreement.
At a subsequent press conference, Trump dismissed concerns about the contradictory statements.
"We have a deal," he said.
Asked whether Iran agreed.
"We'll see."
Asked whether negotiations were still underway.
"Very much."
Asked whether the deal was already complete.
"It is."
Asked how all three could be true at the same time.
Trump nodded.
"Exactly."
At press time, negotiations remained ongoing toward securing the agreement, confirming the agreement, celebrating the agreement, explaining the agreement, defending the agreement, determining whether an agreement existed, and figuring out whether Iran had been informed of its role in it.
Israeli officials declined to comment, citing a busy bombing schedule. ∎
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