President Donald Trump on Wednesday floated an American strike on Iranian nuclear sites as Israel and Iran enter their sixth day of conflict.
“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I mean nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
“Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate,” Trump continued. “And I said, ‘Why didn’t you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction? Why didn’t you negotiate?’ I said to people, ‘Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country.’”
Trump has publicly grappled with whether the United States should join Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
When asked about his Truth Social Post on Tuesday calling for “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” amidst a handful of posts about Iran, Trump said Wednesday. “That means I’ve had it. OK, I’ve had it. I give up. No more.”
Trump said that he had recently spoken with an Iranian leader – though he did not state who – and the unidentified person proposed an Iranian visit to the White House.
“I said it’s very late to be talking,” Trump said. “There’s a big difference between now and a week ago, right? Big difference.”
The president warned that his patience with Iran had “already run out, that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Trump held a meeting with his national security team on Tuesday to discuss plans going forward. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday focused on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, writing the U.S. knew his location but didn’t plan to “take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
