The U.S.-Iran ceasefire will not expire on Wednesday afternoon after all.
In a Truth Social post Tuesday afternoon that came minutes after stocks settled, President Trump said he was extending the truce—citing “the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so” and a request from Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan to “hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.” The naval blockade of Iranian ports stays on. The after-the-bell post closed out a day of ceasefire whiplash that had started before the opening one.
Trump began the morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box, telling viewers the U.S. was “going to end up with a great deal,” adding, “I think they have no choice,” and said he did not plan to extend the ceasefire. Stock futures rose on diplomatic optimism as the Dow opened up 0.52% and the S&P 500 up 0.11%.
What followed next turned markets upside down. Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to leave for Islamabad Tuesday morning to lead the second round of peace talks—joined by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the same team that ran the unsuccessful first round on April 11. But Vance’s plane never took off, and soon the New York Times reported that the trip was on hold, awaiting Iran’s demands. Iranian representatives had insisted all weekend that they did not and would not agree to a second round of talks while they were being blockaded.
Stocks fell on the New York Times report. Trump, in the Squawk Box interview from the morning, had ruled that out: “We’re not going to open the strait [of Hormuz] until we have a final deal.”
By the end of the day, he was singing a different tune, saying he would “therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded,” Trump wrote, “one way or the other.”
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