How many times has Trump claimed an Iran deal is around the corner?

Summary President Donald Trump has said an Iran deal is imminent about three dozen times since late March.

Despite repeated assurances that negotiations were days or weeks from completion, no agreement has materialized.

On Monday, Trump again predicted a “total victory” in the next two weeks.

It’s been more than two months since President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, saying at the time that the two sides were close to a deal.

Trump said on social media on April 7 that they were “very far along” but needed two weeks for “the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.” He concluded by saying that “it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”

There was no resolution, of course. But Trump has nonetheless spent the two months since then continuing to suggest a deal was right around the corner. A lot.

Including the period before the ceasefire, he’s done it at least 38 times. That’s the number of times he’s said directly — in social media posts, public appearances and phone calls with the media — that a deal was nigh or claimed Iran was desperate to cut one.

There’s no indication that’s any more true today than it was back on April 7. But Trump keeps saying it, either because he’s delusional, trying to calm the financial markets or thinking he can will it into existence.

But it’s clearly not a claim people should take seriously anymore.

It began March 23, less than a month into the war. Trump was telling reporters outside Air Force One about supposed peace talks and cited “major points of agreement, I would ​say — almost all points of agreement.” (In fact, Iran denied negotiations.)

By the next day, he started trotting out what has become a common refrain: that Iran was desperate to cut a deal.

“I think we’re going to end it,” Trump added. “I can’t tell you for sure.”

By March 25, it became that Iran wanted to “make a deal so badly.” On March 26, at a Cabinet meeting, Iran was “begging to make a deal.”

By March 29, during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked if he foresaw clinching a deal in the next week, and he responded: “I do see a deal in Iran, yeah.”

President Donald Trump talks to members of the media aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on March 29. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Trump’s predictions started to grow more insistent at this point. On April 6, he said they had been “very close to a deal” before a setback.

The next day, he announced the ceasefire, which was originally supposed to last two weeks while the two sides hammered out an agreement.

A week later, on April 15, he told Fox Business, “I think it’s close to over, I view it as very close to over.”

“We’ll see what happens,” he added. “I think they want to make a deal very badly.”

The next few days, Trump practically assured it was over:

Despite that not panning out, Iran was still “dying to make a deal” on April 30.

“When the war ends, which shouldn’t be too long …” he wagered to reporters on May 1.

Trump held back on his predictions for a spell, before announcing on May 18 that he was delaying military strikes for “two or three days” at the request of Middle Eastern countries, “because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal.”

At this point, even Trump seemed to acknowledge how often such predictions had gone awry.

“We’ve had periods of time where we had — we thought pretty much getting close to making a deal and it didn’t work out,” Trump said, before adding: “But this is a little bit different.”

It was not different. But he remained undeterred.

“We’re gonna end that war very quickly,” Trump said May 19 at a congressional picnic.

By May 23, he made the rounds much like he had on April 17. He said the administration was “getting a lot closer” to a deal. He said the deal was “largely negotiated, subject to finalization.” And he said the deal would be announced “shortly” and that the “final aspects” were being discussed.

On May 28, in an interview with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, things were “close to a very good deal.”

And on Sunday, he assured that they were “very close to having a deal,” but that Iran and Israel were jeopardizing it by engaging in a side scuffle.

“We are very close to a final deal with Iran,” he told Axios. “It is going to be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now.”

It was at least the third time Trump told Axios that a deal was imminent.

And despite the tensions between Israel and Iran, Trump is still leaning in.

During a tele-rally for Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Monday, Trump predicted “total victory” in the next two weeks and said Iran was “willing to give us everything.”

Then, speaking to reporters early Tuesday after attending the NBA Finals in New York City, Trump said the sides were “in final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.”

“The strait will open up right away,” Trump added. “It’ll open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days.”

This story has been updated with additional information.