President Donald Trump arrived at the NATO summit in Ankara with the world already watching a fragile Middle East ceasefire crack under pressure.

Then he appeared to smash what was left of it.

Speaking from Turkey on Wednesday, Trump declared that the shaky peace arrangement with Iran was effectively “over” after a new exchange of fire between the two countries, including reported Iranian attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The president’s language was blunt, angry and unmistakably personal.

“They’re sick people, they’re led by sick people,” Trump said. “They’re vicious, violent people. If they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

The remarks landed like a diplomatic thunderclap.

For weeks, Trump had defended his administration’s June memorandum of understanding with Iran, a fragile framework that was supposed to prevent the crisis from widening into a full-scale regional war. Critics had already warned that the deal gave Tehran too much while securing too little in return.

Now, standing on the sidelines of a NATO summit, Trump seemed to confirm what many feared: the agreement had collapsed before it ever became durable.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” he repeated.

The president said he would still allow special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to continue talking with Iranian officials if they wished. But Trump made clear that he personally saw little point in further negotiations.

“They’re liars,” he said. “We make a deal… Everyone’s agreed, no nuclear weapon. They go outside, talk to the press, they say, ‘We never even talked about it.’”

He paused only to sharpen the insult.

“There’s something wrong with them,” Trump said. “They’re cuckoo.”

The remarks came after U.S. Central Command launched what officials described as powerful strikes against dozens of Iranian targets on Tuesday, marking the most intense exchange between Washington and Tehran since the June understanding was reached.

That agreement was supposed to lower the temperature after months of spiraling confrontation. Instead, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Iran has also accused Israel of undermining the arrangement by continuing strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, an Iranian-backed military group.

But the latest reported attacks pushed the crisis into a new and far more dangerous phase.

The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil corridors, has long been viewed as a potential flashpoint in any U.S.-Iran conflict. Attacks on tankers there immediately raise fears of disruption to global energy markets, military escalation and wider regional instability.

The reported strikes on U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait added another layer of urgency.

For Trump, the answer was not restraint.

It was retaliation.

And then it was rage.

“They’re bad people, and frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them,” Trump said in Ankara. “Now, I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it. I don’t like these people.”

The president’s comments seemed to leave his own diplomatic team in an awkward position. On paper, negotiations may continue. In practice, Trump had publicly declared that he had lost faith in the entire process.

That contradiction could have major consequences.

If Iran believes the U.S. president no longer supports negotiations, Tehran may see little reason to maintain even the appearance of restraint. If American allies believe the deal is dead, they may begin preparing for a broader confrontation. And if global markets interpret Trump’s remarks as the beginning of a deeper conflict, the fallout could move quickly from diplomacy to economics.

Trump’s critics wasted little time pointing to the weaknesses of the June agreement.

The memorandum reportedly included Iranian pledges to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and the creation of a massive $300 billion rebuilding fund for Tehran if certain conditions were met. But critics said it did not include a firm, enforceable guarantee that Iran would end its nuclear ambitions or permanently abandon the possibility of obtaining nuclear weapons.

Instead, talks were set to continue for at least another 60 days.

That timeline now appears to be in jeopardy.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, standing near Trump in Ankara, defended the U.S. response and said retaliation was “absolutely necessary” after Iran’s actions.

“I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully reacts,” Rutte said.

The moment underscored how quickly Trump’s Iran policy has shifted from deal-making to confrontation.

Only weeks ago, the administration was presenting the memorandum as evidence that Trump could contain a crisis through pressure, negotiation and personal diplomacy. Now, the president was using the language of disgust, betrayal and finality.

The most alarming part may not have been that Trump was angry.

It was that he sounded finished.

In the space of a few sentences, the president appeared to turn a fragile diplomatic framework into a battlefield warning.

The deal may still exist on paper.

But after Trump’s outburst in Ankara, it may no longer have a president willing to defend it.