Lionel Messi not in the starting lineup for Inter Miami's game in Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) — Lionel Messi was not in the starting lineup for Inter Miami's game at Atlanta United on Wednesday night.

With the Herons playing their second of three games within a week, Messi was set to begin the match on the bench. Coach Gerardo Martino had said he didn't want to overwork his star player, who is coming back from an injury with the club in the midst of a busy stretch.

Another key Miami player, Luis Suárez, also was listed in a substitute role for the game that was expected to draw a large crowd to Mercedes-Benz Stadium — largely to see Messi.

He didn't play a year ago when Inter Miami visited Atlanta, disappointing a crowd of 71,635. But he was in the stadium this time around, setting him up to make a possible appearance in the second half.

The 37-year-old Messi made a mesmerizing return to Miami's lineup this past Saturday after a lengthy absence, scoring two goals and assisting on the third in a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union.

Miami has the best record in Major League Soccer and is trying to lock up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Argentine star and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had not played with Inter Miami since June 1 because of national team commitments and a right ankle injury sustained in a 1-0 victory over Colombia in the Copa America final on July 14.

“A little bit tired because of the heat and humidity of Miami but I wanted to return so much after such a long time away,” Messi said in Spanish after the game. "I started training with the group and began to feel better.”

Messi scored twice in a four-minute span midway through the first half to negate an early goal by Philadelphia.

Suárez assisted on one of Messi's goals and and clinched the victory with a strike off a Messi assist during second-half stoppage time.

It was Suárez’s 17th goal of the season.

Messi came into Wednesday with 14 goals and 14 assists in league play, despite playing just 13 matches.

AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) its hugged by his teammates after scoring his second goal during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Lionel Messi not in the starting lineup for Inter Miami's game in Atlanta

Lionel Messi not in the starting lineup for Inter Miami's game in Atlanta

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) kicks the ball away from Philadelphia Union midfielder Leon Flach (31) during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has had a lot to say about his thinking on the way ahead in the Iran war since Republicans were trounced in last week's midterm elections.

In exchanges with reporters, broadcast interviews and social media posts since Election Day, he's somehow managed to back away from carrying out additional strikes while also backing away from the prospect of additional talks with the Islamic Republic's negotiators on ending the 8-month-old conflict.

The president acknowledged on the day after the midterms that the war and the global economic tumult it's caused were partly to blame for Republicans' electoral losses, while maintaining it was the right thing to do.

Then, at the start of this week, he huddled with Qatar's prime minister at the White House and afterward told reporters that he believed it was highly unlikely he'd need to order new major strikes on Iran, declaring that the war “militarily is effectively over.”

But by Thursday, he was again raising questions about whether he needed to rush to find an endgame. He declared that the U.S. no longer needs a deal with Tehran and brusquely directed Vice President JD Vance — who served as his chief negotiator in earlier peace talks with Iran — to shift his attention to the administration's domestic anti-fraud campaign.

All the while, Trump warned Iran that the U.S. military is “locked and loaded” and keeping an eye on Pickaxe Mountain, a facility linked to Iran’s nuclear program, for signs of activity.

“If something does not work out, I would not hesitate" to act, Trump told conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt on Thursday.

Trump's tonal shifts have only added to the uncertainty about what comes next in a war in which America's allies were not consulted before it was started but nonetheless struggle to deal with its economic ramifications.

“President Trump is now acting like an arsonist who has set ablaze our foreign policy,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said in an interview Friday on the sidelines of the Democrats’ postelection gathering in Denver. “And now he just wants to walk away.”

The president's ambiguous positioning on the war is expected to loom large during a visit next week to the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen.

While in Shenzhen, Trump will hold an unprecedented three-way summit with China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump is expected to discuss Iran and the three powers' nuclear stockpiles with Xi and Putin.

The White House declined to comment directly to queries on Trump's postelection rhetoric on Iran. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored that Trump's approach is leading to the Iranian economy collapsing.

“The economic pain that we are inflicting on that regime is so great that there’s no need for military action because we’ve weakened them so much,” Rubio said in a Friday evening speech to the Federalist Society.

Chief mediator Qatar continues to try to negotiate an interim agreement that would restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for the flow of oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf to global markets, while leaving open options for further discussions between the U.S. and Iran.

But those efforts are now clouded by uncertainty following Trump’s shifting — and sometimes contradictory — comments, according to two Middle East diplomats familiar with the process.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the situation had appeared to be on the right track earlier this week after Qatar’s prime minister met with Trump.

But Trump's social media post Thursday declaring that the U.S. doesn't need a deal with Iran and directing Vance “to focus his complete and total attention” on his anti-fraud campaign has created a sense of limbo.

One of the diplomats said the post raised questions about why Trump appeared to be sidelining Vance, who was skeptical about launching the war but ultimately supported Trump.

Trump's post came as Vance had been weighing a possible reengagement with senior Iranian negotiators, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The president posted his message calling on Vance to steer away from Iran negotiations the morning after The Wall Street Journal reported Vance was thinking about resuming talks. Trump — who had been aware of Vance's deliberations — believed the Iranians weren't acting in good faith, the person added.

Trump is also increasingly confident that he can credibly declare that he's achieved his military objectives in the war.

But traversing the Strait of Hormuz remains treacherous. The United Nations reports October had the highest number of incidents against commercial ships in the contested waters since February.

Still, Trump believes with oil shipments through the strait reaching near-prewar levels, he could potentially leave it to Gulf countries to negotiate a deal with the Iranians on governing the critical waterway, the person said.

The other regional diplomat described the push for peace as falling into a holding pattern as people await clarification from the White House on Trump’s intentions.

That diplomat added it was not entirely clear to mediators or the Iranians if Trump’s comments meant he was abandoning a negotiated agreement or was just posturing after the congressional midterm elections that cost his Republican Party control of Congress.

Iran remains unwilling to engage in negotiations over its nuclear program until the U.S. agrees to several core conditions that Iran has been demanding be part of any ceasefire agreement.

Differences with Iran over its nuclear activities remain the thorniest issue and one that Trump insists must be resolved as part of any deal meant to end the war.

Tehran's rhetoric has hardly cooled. Iran’s deputy U.N. ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi told the United Nations Security Council on Friday that Iran “has never closed the door to diplomacy.” But he warned that should the U.S. or Israel return to bombing, his country would offer “an immediate and decisive response.”

Rubio earlier this week stressed that the U.S. is not opposed to mediators continuing their efforts.

“If there’s a deal to be done, the president will be the first one to be in favor of it," Rubio said. "But it’s not going to be a stupid deal. It’s not going to be a bad deal.”

Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he expects the status quo to persist for some time, with the U.S. and Iran locked in a stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. continuing its monthslong naval blockade that's curbing the flow of Iranian crude to the global market.

Singh said the American strategy of squeezing Iran economically is a far more attractive option for Trump than military escalation or making concessions to Tehran.

He also suggested Trump could always reverse his position on Vance engaging with Iranians if the president finds the Iranians are ready to seriously negotiate.

“It’s probably the most sensible path as well to sort of be patient, keep the pressure on, allow the mediators to keep doing their work,” said Singh, who worked on Middle East issues in former President George W. Bush's White House. “And when the time is right, but not before then, is when you want to engage senior officials like the vice president and so forth.”

Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed reporting.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance attend a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance attend a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - President Donald Trump talks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a roundtable on criminal cartels in the State Dining Room of the White House, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)