The White House's public messaging on Iran descended into open contradiction, as President Donald Trump denied that any negotiations with Tehran were underway or scheduled — one day after his special envoy described the conversations as unusually productive.

"White House messaging on Iran is a mess today," NBC News reporter Garrett Haake wrote on X. "Special Envoy Jared Kushner told @TreyYingst yesterday 'We are having very positive and active conversations' with Iran - 'probably more robust than it's maybe ever been.' Then POTUS contradicts today."

Trump took to Truth Social to state: "There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

The statement contrasted sharply with what the White House said on Monday. Gregory Brew, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, similarly noted that Kushner had called the talks "robust" less than 24 hours before Trump's post.

The mismatch matters because the administration has repeatedly used Trump statements to define, and then redefine, its Iran position in public. Trump initially said the mission was to destroy Iran's ballistic-missile program and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That framing later shifted, with Trump declaring there could be "no deal" except Iran's "unconditional surrender."

The president's timeline estimates have also moved. Trump promised the conflict could take four weeks or less, and later estimated four to five weeks. As of Tuesday, 171 days had passed since the U.S. first bombed Iran.

In June, Trump announced he had canceled planned strikes because negotiators had reached a "great settlement" that he expected to sign within days, according to Reuters. Two months later, there is still no deal.

"One of the rules of deal-making is that you have to know very quickly if there's a deal to do or not," a U.S. official told Axios in February, as the war was beginning.

A senior Trump administration official told journalists on a White House call in March: "So basically, we came back to the President. We said, Look, if you want us to make ... a deal, like an Obama kind of deal, maybe it would be an Obama plus deal, we could probably get one done."

At the beginning of July, Trump said: "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."

Trump also posted a graphic of the Strait of Hormuz calling it a new U.S. territory, implying he was prepared to take it over. Against that backdrop, the latest contradiction underscores how little clarity there is over whether the administration is signaling diplomacy, pressure, or both at once.