Trump Says US Will ‘Hit Iran Hard’ If Negotiations Fail – Stock Futures Fall, Oil Prices Start Climbing Again

• In an interview with Fox News, Trump said an agreement with Iran remains possible but warned further military strikes would follow if negotiations fail.
• He added that the U.S. would "finish the job" if Iran refuses to negotiate.
• The President stated that the U.S. could target Pickaxe Mountain, calling it "very easy" to destroy.

U.S. stock futures moved lower in pre-market trade on Wednesday after President Donald Trump told Fox News the U.S. will be "hitting Iran hard" following what U.S. Central Command described as a "surprise attack" by Iranian forces on U.S. troops in the Middle East. 

CENTCOM said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units launched multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in the region. Officials reportedly said all of them were intercepted.

Nasdaq futures fell 0.65%, Dow futures dropped 0.65%, S&P futures slipped 0.08%, and Russell 2000 futures were down 0.21%. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures maturing in September jumped more than 6.4% to above $84 a barrel. 

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was down 0.11%, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) slipped 0.74%, while the Nasdaq-100-tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) moved 0.11% lower. Retail sentiment around SPY on Stocktwits remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) jumped more than 6% in pre-market trade, with retail sentiment on the platform staying in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day. 

Trump Says Iran Deal Still Possible

Trump stated there's "a good chance" of an Iran deal but that fighting could resume if talks fail. "We took out their nuclear sites, and we'll have to take out Pickaxe if we don't make a deal," he said, referring to Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified Iranian nuclear facility U.S. forces have targeted previously. "We'll take it out very easily. This is actually a good time to make a deal for them." 

He added that if Iran doesn't negotiate, "I go back and I finish the job," including strikes on bridges he said "would be very easy" to destroy "in less than an hour." Trump also described Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq as a "cancer on the world."

Trump’s comments come ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is scheduled to be their first face‑to‑face talks since the U.S. and Israel launched joint military operations against Iran in late February.

Read also: The Chinese AI Model That Wiped Hundreds Of Billions Off Nvidia Just Made Its Creator Worth $35B

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com