7 times Trump walked back his threat of devastating strikes on Iran

President Donald Trump appears to have a strategy: threaten irreparable damage to Iran's civilian infrastructure then hit pause and hope the other side decides to come to the table and revive negotiations.

By ABC News' count, he's tried it no less than seven times. So far it hasn't worked.

In what's becoming a familiar pattern, Trump wrote on his social media platform late Saturday night that at the request of Iran and other Middle Eastern countries he'd decided not to carry out his what White House officials said would be a devastating strike targeting Iran's energy infrastructure. But, he warned, the U.S. is still "locked and loaded" and prepared for "Military Terror... not seen since [World War II]"

Here's a look at the times Trump has made similar threats over the course of the five-month war.

The threats started a little less than a month into the war, on March 21, when Trump said he'd attack Iran's power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully opened. "The United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" he wrote on social media.

But just two days later he announced that progress was being made and that the strikes were postponed for five days. "BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS," Trump wrote.

After the five days elapsed on March 26, Trump paused the planned strikes for another 10 days, citing requests by the Iranian government.

"As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

On the morning of April 7, Trump wrote in a social media post that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." He said strikes could be averted if "less radical minds prevail" in Iran. Then, 10 hours later on the evening of April 7, he called off the strikes and said the two sides had agreed to a two-week ceasefire. In that social media post, he said the two-week period would allow for a peace agreement "to be