With a fragile two-week ceasefire holding — barely — and a high-stakes diplomatic summit underway in Islamabad, President Donald Trump spent the weekend of April 10–11 doing what he does best: controlling the narrative from Truth Social.

Rather than holding press conferences or conducting interviews, the president communicated directly to the American people — and to Iranian negotiators — through a series of pointed posts that left little ambiguity about the U.S. negotiating position: surrender your nuclear ambitions, reopen the Strait of Hormuz without conditions, or face resumed military operations.

Hours before the U.S. delegation departed for Pakistan, Trump posted a stark warning to Tehran, framing Iran’s participation in talks not as diplomacy between equals — but as a survival measure for a nation that has been militarily devastated by Operation Epic Fury.

The post was vintage Trump: maximalist in framing, unambiguous in intent. Administration officials have repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened “completely, immediately, and freely” — with no tolls, no conditions, and no Iranian coordination requirements — as the non-negotiable foundation for any longer-term peace agreement.

Trump also stated separately that the Strait would reopen “with or without Iran’s cooperation” — signaling that U.S. Navy mine-clearing operations were being readied regardless of what happens in the Pakistan talks.

On Saturday morning, as the Islamabad summit got underway, Trump posted a sweeping Truth Social statement cataloguing Iran’s military losses and announcing the start of active U.S. mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz — framing it as “a favor to Countries all over the World.”

The post set off a wave of reactions across X, with financial analysts, news organizations, and the White House itself amplifying Trump’s message in real time during the first day of the Pakistan summit.

While Trump himself does not post on X, his Truth Social statements drove immediate and widespread engagement across the platform throughout Saturday. Here is how the day played out in real time:

The Pakistan talks represent the first structured diplomatic encounter between the U.S. and Iran since the 38-day military campaign. VP JD Vance leads the American delegation alongside envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. On the Iranian side, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi head a large technical delegation.

Iranian negotiators have signaled “goodwill but lack of trust” in early hours — a posture that reflects both their weakened military position and domestic political pressure to show they haven’t capitulated entirely. Iran’s publicly stated conditions include a U.S. withdrawal from the region and the lifting of sanctions, conditions the Trump administration has not agreed to.

Trump’s Truth Social posts on both days serve a dual purpose: reassuring his domestic base that the U.S. has lost nothing in the ceasefire window, while simultaneously applying maximum psychological pressure on Iranian negotiators who are acutely aware that resumed strikes remain on the table. Whether the Islamabad talks produce a lasting framework — or collapse into renewed conflict — may depend on how far Tehran is willing to bend on the two issues Trump has declared absolute: uranium enrichment and unrestricted access to the Strait of Hormuz.