U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said President Trump rejected Iran’s ceasefire bid after Tehran demanded everything up front, a cynical offer the White House refused to accept.

Mike Waltz told Sunday interviewers that Iranian officials wanted sweeping relief before any halt in fighting, and President Trump said no.

The Hill reported that Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, spelled out the terms on CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The Iranians, he said, were not offering a serious path to end their nuclear program. They wanted the benefits first.

Iran wanted sanctions gone before any pause

Waltz described the pitch in plain terms. “They were asking for everything up front. They were asking for relief from billions and billions of sanctions that are going into place as Operation Economic Fury, but also... snapback sanctions from the United Nations that have been in place for many years,” he said.

Those U.N. measures, he added, exist because Iran “has violated, over and over again, a number of issues related to its nuclear program.”

Trump confirmed Saturday that he had rejected the ceasefire proposal. He told reporters the deal “would not be acceptable.”

He also framed Iran’s motive bluntly: “They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.”

That stance fits a broader pattern of pressure, including when Trump ordered strikes on dozens of Iranian targets after earlier ceasefire breaches.

Waltz calls the offer a cynical attempt

On NBC, Waltz went further. He called the Iranian proposal a “cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable.”

“The president’s just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith, and... will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear program,” Waltz said.

Trump has stated the goal of U.S. action against the Islamic Republic is to eliminate its nuclear capabilities. Waltz said the president will keep every tool available.

“At the end of the day, of course, this has to end in some type of arrangement. But he’s going to leave all options on the table to get there,” Waltz told Kristen Welker.

The same hard line has shown up elsewhere, as when Trump declared an Iran ceasefire finished after strikes on U.S. bases in the Gulf.

Wall Street Journal notes a short halt was refused

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump turned down a seven-day halt in military hostilities. The paper also reported he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms.

This week at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he “will not give credence to the election” regarding the conflict, a signal that domestic politics will not dictate the timeline.

Waltz argued Iranian officials are “miscalculating” if they think Trump is weighing the midterms first. The nuclear file, not the calendar, is the point.

Allied pressure has tracked that approach. AP News reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he “fully” backs Trump’s efforts to weaken Iran and end its nuclear program, adding that a result without a return to intense fighting would be fine.

In related comments, Waltz told Fox News that Trump has been “giving talks some space” and “a little bit of room” after recent U.S. strikes on Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure, while Iran’s army spokesperson said Tehran had also halted attacks during the pause.

Earlier flare-ups tested the ceasefire claims

Separate reporting captured how fragile any pause has been. The New York Post reported Trump’s account that three U.S. destroyers, the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason, transited the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian missile, drone, and small-boat fire with no damage.

Trump insisted then that the cease-fire remained in effect and downplayed the U.S. defensive response as “just a love tap.” Negotiators at that stage were working on a one-page, 14-point memorandum that could open the door to wider talks, including nuclear issues and possible sanctions relief.

That sequence underscores why the latest Iranian ask landed as a non-starter. Full relief up front, before verified limits on the nuclear program, reverses the leverage.

Fox News coverage of the rejection likewise put Waltz on air explaining the decision, tying it to strength at the table rather than a rush to lock in weak terms. Fox News featured the ambassador’s account of why Trump refused the proposed ceasefire.

Readers following the wider campaign will recognize the same posture in other theaters of pressure, including when Trump warned he would strike Oman if it blocked U.S. efforts to resolve the standoff.

Good faith still missing from Tehran

Waltz’s core charge is simple. Iran wanted the sanctions relief, the U.N. snapback relief, and the breathing room first. It did not put a credible end to the nuclear program on the table.

Trump’s answer matched that record. The proposed deal was not acceptable. Options stay open. The nuclear goal remains.

For a White House that has already used enforcement tools at home, from driving illegal immigrants out of U.S. banks to restoring voter-verification systems, the foreign-policy message is consistent: pressure first, concessions only when the other side moves in good faith.

Iran asked for the prize before the performance. Trump declined. That is how leverage works.