Will Arab Nations Fund US For Iran War? White House Signals Trump's Interest

Last Updated:March 31, 2026, 01:54 IST

Trump eyes asking Arab states to help pay for Iran war, White House says talks with Tehran are progressing, warns of military consequences if Iran backtracks

The White House has said that US President Donald Trump is interested in calling on Arab countries to help bear the cost of the ongoing war with Iran, even as diplomatic talks continue behind the scenes.

While addressing a press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the idea of seeking financial support from Arab nations is something Trump is “quite interested in." When asked whether Arab countries would step up to help pay for the war, she said that she would not get ahead of the Republican President.

“I think it’s something the President would be quite interested in calling them to do," Leavitt said, adding “It’s an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you’ll hear more from him on."

Leavitt further indicated that Iran’s private communications differ from its public stance, and that Iran had privately agreed to some of Washington’s points.

“Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well. What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what’s being communicated to us privately," Leavitt said.

Earlier on Monday, Trump continued to issue strong warnings, threatening to target Iran’s energy infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran described US peace proposals as “unrealistic" and fired waves of missiles at Israel.

Trump has also said that negotiations with Tehran were going well and suggested that “regime change" in Iran is complete.

“We’ve had regime change, if you look, already, because the one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead. And the third regime, we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people," Trump told reporters on Sunday.

“So I would consider that regime change, and frankly, they’ve been very reasonable."

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