President Donald Trump is weighing a possible U.S. attack on Iran, saying Wednesday he hasn’t made a final decision on whether to get involved in the country’s conflict with Israel.
The president left this week’s G7 summit in Canada early to focus his attention on the escalating crisis.
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Trump has held several meetings in the White House Situation Room this week with senior advisers.
While several media reports and Trump’s own statements on social media have indicated strikes are likely, he’s remained coy in his comments to the press.
“I may do it. I may not do it,” he said Wednesday. “Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Read our previous coverage here, and see the latest politics updates below:
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Gets Discharged From Hospital
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been released from hospital after receiving treatment for an allergic reaction, her spokesperson said Wednesday.
Noem was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday "out of abundance of caution," DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin previously told HuffPost.
Trump Leaning Toward Attacking Iranian Nuclear Facility But Has Questions: Reports
Trump is getting more comfortable with the idea of helping take out Iran's most heavily guarded nuclear facility, according to an ABC News report, but he has concerns about whether the United States' 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs can do the job, Axios reported.
A source familiar with Trump's thinking told ABC News he's warming to the idea of helping Israel destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment plant, saying there's movement toward preparing for such an attack.
But Trump has reportedly been asking his military advisors whether the bunker-buster he'd be supplying would take out the facility. Pentagon officials have told Trump they're confident it would, an official told Axios, but Trump appears unconvinced.
British Prime Minister Reportedly Puts Cabinet On Alert For Possible U.S. Attack On Iran
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly "put his cabinet on alert" amid indications Trump may approve a U.S. strike on Iran in the coming days, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
Starmer held an emergency meeting with senior advisers after returning from the G7 summit in Canada to discuss the possibility of Trump deciding to attack Iran's Furdow facility, a key site for the country's nuclear program.
On Tuesday, Starmer told reporters he had no indication from Trump that the U.S. intended to carry out strikes. Trump has since said he's still deciding on U.S. involvement.
Starmer has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to proceed with diplomacy rather than further conflict.
U.S. Begins Evacuating Some Diplomats From Embassy In Israel
Some nonessential American diplomats and their families have begun evacuating from the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem as Israel's war with Iran continues to intensify — and Trump increasingly flirts with the U.S. entering the conflict.
A government plane has already evacuated a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave Israel on Wednesday, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. It's unclear how many people were on the flight when it departed.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, confirmed the evacuations on X, saying the embassy is working on departures via plane and cruise ship. American citizens who want to leave Israel must enroll in the U.S. government's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, Huckabee stressed.
Israel and Iran have been trading fire since Friday, leading civilians in both countries to desperately seek shelter from missiles. Trump has seemingly warmed to the idea of directly involving the U.S. in the war, despite Iranian officials warning the president of devastating consequences. U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have fiercely condemned the prospect of Americans entering another war in the Middle East.
Trump Has Privately Greenlit Attack On Iran But Has Not Given Final Order: WSJ Report
Trump reportedly approved U.S. plans to attack Iran on Tuesday, but he has not yet given a final order, three sources told the Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s final order will be based on whether Tehran surrenders its nuclear weapons program, according to the WSJ.
The report comes after the president publicly indicated that he is undecided on whether he will order a strike on Iran amid its war with Israel.
Trump has also claimed that he knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding, but does not want to kill him — “at least not for now.”
Iranian Official: ‘No Choice But To Retaliate’ If U.S. Attacks
A top Iranian official told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that his country would need to take action if Trump ordered a direct attack by U.S. forces in aid of Israel.
“If the Americans decide to get involved militarily, we have no choice but to retaliate wherever we find the targets necessary to be acted upon,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said. “That is pure and simple. Because we are acting in self-defense, if another country joins the fight.”
Trump Says ‘It’s Possible That You’re Going To Have To Fight’ Iran
Trump spoke for a few minutes to reporters in the Oval Office about the big question on everyone’s minds: Whether the U.S. will intervene militarily to help Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
He once again declined to make any commitment, but cast himself as a realist in contrast to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a longtime ally who criticized the president’s willingness to assist Israel in a conflict that could potentially spark a larger regional war.
“Tucker’s a nice guy. He called and apologized the other day,” Trump told reporters.
“The bottom line is they can’t have nuclear,” he went on.
“They don’t want them to have nuclear,” he said of people like Carlson, “But then they say, ‘Well, we don’t want to fight.’ Well, you’re going to have to make a choice, because it’s possible that you’re going to have to fight for them not to have nuclear.”
If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, Trump said, “the entire world will blow up.”
He suggested Iranian officials want to fly to the U.S. to negotiate, but are apparently having a difficult time getting out of their own country as Israeli bombs fall. Asked whether he wanted to see Iran's secretive Fordow nuclear site destroyed, Trump demurred, saying only that it has been discussed.
Trump Family Gathers To Raise Absolutely Enormous American Flag In Front Of White House
The president was joined by his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, on the South Lawn to watch a massive U.S. flag raised on a brand-new flagpole for the first time.
“How do you like it, everybody?” Trump shouted to reporters. Flowers will be planted at the base of the pole, he said.
Trump decided earlier this year that the flag atop the White House should be joined by two others on the ground, claiming he would foot the bill. The second flagpole is currently still under construction, as is the pavement going over the White House Rose Garden's grassy center. Last month, Trump said he planned to personally pay for a new, bigger ballroom at the White House.