President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he had yet to decide what course America would take on the Israel–Iran war.
“I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final—I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, you know, because things change,” he said. “I mean, especially with war, things change with war.”
The president also said that he had given Iran an “ultimate ultimatum” to respond to before he decides to commit the U.S. to support Israel in the war. He added that Iranian negotiators have asked to meet at the White House, an assertion the Iranian UN mission denied.
“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader. Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance,” it wrote in a post on X.
Subscribe Today
Get daily emails in your inbox
Trump has expressed his admiration of the Israeli operation, noting that the strikes were “excellent” and “very successful,” but has also called for a negotiated end to the conflict.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,” he wrote on a Truth Social post shortly after the start of the war.
As Trump deliberates, Israel and Iran continue to attack each other from the air. On Wednesday, Israeli strikes hit various manufacturing facilities for the Iranian nuclear program and military, Iran’s police headquarters, and missile launch sites. Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles, which appear to have largely been intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
