Iran had pushed back against Trump's demands that it directly negotiate over its nuclear program or be bombed although it had initially left the door open to indirect discussions.
"We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable," Trump said.
Trump did not disclose the venue for the meetings to begin on Saturday or say who from his administration would participate.
"We're dealing with them directly and maybe a deal is going to be made," Trump said.
He added that "doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious".
Trump said the talks would happen "at almost the highest level".
Warnings by Trump of military action against Iran had jangled already tense nerves across the Middle East after open warfare in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, military strikes on Yemen, a change of leadership in Syria and Israeli-Iranian exchanges of fire.
Trump has said he would prefer a deal over Iran's nuclear program to a military confrontation and he said on March 7 he had written to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to suggest talks.
Iranian officials said at the time that the country would not be bullied into negotiations.
During his 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Iran's disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment.
Some governments have accused Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Iran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
with AP
