As Israel and Iran exchange fresh attacks, President Donald Trump says a 15-point peace plan has been sent to Tehran via Pakistan and claims negotiations are underway. Iran publicly rejected Trump's proposal and said the US is negotiating with itself, but did respond with demands of its own.

In this episode of TrumpWorld Matt Frei, in Jerusalem, and Anushka Asthana, in Washington, try to make sense of the contradictions. Is there really a diplomatic off-ramp - or is the US trying to calm markets while escalating militarily? And what does Trump actually want from Iran after weeks of war and rising tensions across the Middle East?

They’re joined by Matthew Miller, former US State Department spokesperson under Joe Biden, to unpack the strategy, the politics in Washington, and the global stakes. From Trump’s shifting messaging to Israel’s role and the pressure on Gulf states, we ask the key question: is this the start of peace talks - or the next phase of the war?

In week three of the Iran war, Donald Trump faces the consequences of a campaign he believed he could control. As Israel strikes the South Pars gas field and Tehran vows retaliation across the Gulf, the regional balance is shifting in real time. With turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz, a spiraling energy shock, and a widening conflict stretching into Lebanon, TrumpWorld asks one central question: What did Donald Trump think would happen, and does he now regret it?

Matt Frei reports from Jerusalem where Israel insists everything is going to plan after the killings of senior Iranian officials, and Anushka Asthana joins from Washington DC, where the administration is scrambling to contain the fallout. We speak to Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago about the ‘escalation trap’, the logic that pulls presidents into wars they cannot easily end.

The Trump administration is sending a blizzard of mixed messages about the war in Iran; yesterday Trump insisted it was “pretty much” over - today U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that today would be the “most intense day of strikes inside Iran.”

Behind the scenes, global markets are jolting, oil prices are surging and the White House appears to be scrambling to contain the political and economic fallout.

This is a conflict Trump never fully explained, a war of choice launched with no clear end point and no obvious definition of victory. Now voters are feeling the impact at the petrol pump and allies are trying to decipher whether the President is winding down the war, or simply reacting to the panic he helped unleash.

What does all this reveal about Trump’s strategy, the pressure he is under at home, and the risks he is willing to take in the Gulf?

On today’s TrumpWorld, Anushka Asthana and Matt Frei are joined by Dana W. White, who was the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman during Trump’s first term, to break down the military messaging, the political calculations and the reality behind the White House’s shifting story.