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The US president is in a delicate political position as the final hours to Tuesday's deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz tick down.
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The new round of strikes against Iran will be devastating. They will begin at 20:00 Washington DC time on Tuesday (00:00 GMT on Wednesday) . Within four hours, every bridge and power plant in the nation will be "decimated".
"Very little is off-limits," Trump said on Monday.
To avoid this fate, according to the president, Iran has to make a deal "that's acceptable to me". A component of the agreement should include "free traffic of oil" through the Strait of Hormuz.
As the final hours tick down, there has been little indication that Iran is ready to agree to Trump's ultimatum. They've rejected a temporary ceasefire and issued their own list of demands, which a US official described as "maximalist".
This places the US president in a delicate position. If there is no agreement, Trump could extend his deadline – for the fourth time in the past three weeks.
But backing away after such detailed threats, punctuated with expletives and dire warnings, could undercut his credibility as the war grinds on.
It's possible Iran, and the rest of the world, could conclude that despite America's military might and tactical skill – readily displayed in this weekend's intricate operation to rescue two downed airmen deep in Iran – it is not negotiating from a clear position of strength.
"We won," Trump insisted during a news conference on Monday afternoon. "They are militarily defeated. The only thing they have is the psychology of: 'Oh, we're going to drop a couple of mines in the water'."
That "psychology" – the ability to deter oil tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz with drones, missiles and mines – may be a more potent Iranian asset than the US has been willing to acknowledge.
During Monday's news conference, Trump marvelled at US military precision on display in last year's "Midnight
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