WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday left the door open for direct U.S. military involvement in the bubbling conflict between Israel and Iran but declined to definitively say what he is going to do. At the same time, he said Iran has reached out to him and maintained that it still wants to make a deal.
“I may do it; I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump responded when asked if the U.S. would get involved in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. “I can tell you this: that Iran has got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”
The comments marked his first on-camera remarks to the press since returning to Washington after leaving the Group of Seven summit in Canada early due to the tensions in the Middle East. His remarks came at a viewing on the South Lawn of flagpoles Trump says he is paying to have installed on the White House grounds.
He later addressed the topic again with reporters in the Oval Office, saying he “has ideas” as to how he wants to respond, while insinuating that he hasn’t reached a final decision.
“I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due,” Trump said. “Because things change. I mean, especially with war, things change with war.”
He then appeared to move closer to the possibility, asserting that “if it's a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”
The president added that he was set to have a meeting with advisers in the Situation Room later Wednesday.
Meanwhile, throughout the day, the president continued to rebuke Tehran for not signing on to a nuclear deal with the U.S. in the 60 days the president said he gave it to do so, calling it a “mistake” on Iran's part. He said he gave Iran the “ultimate ultimatum” but would not answer what that was.
Trump has been steadfast in saying that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and his administration embarked on multiple rounds of talks over weeks to come to a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program. He asserted that Iran was “a few weeks away” from having a nuclear weapon despite his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testifying to Congress a few months ago that the intelligence community continues to assess that it is not building one.
Trump went on to leave the impression that he may have supported Israel's escalation against Iran because Tehran did not agree to terms with the U.S. within his 60-day time frame.
“I tried to do it nicely, and then on Day 61, I said, ‘Let's go, because we can't let that happen,’” referring to Iran building a nuclear weapon.
He also said, in his communication with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has been telling his fellow leader to “keep going,” later adding that Israel has done a “very good job” in its actions against Iran.
In the wake of Israel’s attack on Iran last week that sparked the conflict, Trump posted on Truth Social that the 60-day timeline he set for negotiations had lapsed. It came after Trump told reporters last month that he urged Israeli Netanyahu to hold off on any potential military action in Iran to prevent damaging U.S. talks with the country.
The president also gave conflicting answers on whether it was “too late” for Iran, first saying nothing is too late before telling reporters that he told the Iranians it was “very late” when they reached out.
“There’s a big difference between now and a week ago,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Trump also declared that he “made a lot of progress” and that next week — or even sooner — will be “very big.”
“They were schoolyard bullies, and now they’re not bullies anymore,” the president said of Iran. “Look, nothing is finished until it’s finished.”
Asked if he had a plan if the regime in Iran falls, Trump said he has a “plan for everything” before noting there are “a ways to go” until it could get to that point.