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.
The president told reporters that he gave Iran the “ultimate ultimatum” but would not answer what that was. He 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.
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. Trump went on to insinuate 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.
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 Prime Minister Benjamin 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.”
