Latest news with #WhiteHouse
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Trump to decide on US action in Israel-Iran conflict within two weeks
US President Donald Trump will decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the Iran-Israel conflict within the next two weeks, the White House has said. In a White House press briefing, Press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a message directly from Trump:"Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."Earlier, Iran's deputy foreign minister told the BBC it would cause "hell" in the region if the US got involved, adding: "This is not America's war." The news comes 24 hours after Trump said he had not made up his mind on joining the conflict. Asked what the message was for "everyday Trump supporters" who have concerns about US involvement, Leavitt said to "trust in President Trump".She added that the president's "top priority" is ensuring that Iran does not successfully construct a nuclear press secretary has so far repeatedly declined to discuss "hypotheticals", including on whether Iranian officials could come to the White House, or whether Trump would seek approval from Congress over any US and his administration have sought to maintain an air of strategic ambiguity - not revealing much publicly about their thinking or potential courses of action."I may do it," he told reporters on Wednesday. "I may not do it."The administration has maintained it believes that Iran has "never been closer" to successfully building a nuclear weapon. Trump has dismissed intelligence assessments - including some given by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in Congress earlier this year - that Iran was not planning to do mounted about Trump's intentions on Wednesday after Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected his demand for BBC's US partner CBS reported that Trump had approved plans to attack Iran, but had not made a final decision on whether to go ahead. The US president was holding off in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme, an intelligence source said. On Thursday Trump responded on Truth Social, saying the Wall Street Journal, where the reports first appeared, had "no idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran". He did not address whether plans had been president is reportedly considering strikes on the Iranian nuclear site Fordo, a subterranean uranium enrichment facility. Iran insists Fordo is used for civilian purposes site's location, hidden away in a mountainside, puts it out of reach of Israel's weaponry. Only the US is considered to have a bomb that might be large enough to destroy Fordo. Diplomatic efforts are under way as the conflict continues, with European foreign ministers set to meet their Iranian counterpart in Switzerland on Friday. Leavitt said that correspondence between American negotiators and the Iranians was earlier reported that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had spoken on the phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC he was hoping for diplomacy as a "first option", but that while bombardment continues "we cannot start any negotiation".He said US involvement would be "hell for the whole region", that would turn the conflict into a "quagmire", continue aggression, and delay an end to the "brutal atrocities".This is "not America's war" and if Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as "a president who entered a war he doesn't belong in", Khatibzadeh added. Trump's two-week deadline came after a hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack on Thursday state media reported that the strike targeted a military site next to the hospital, and not the facility itself. Israel's Ministry of Health said 71 people were wounded during the attack on the Soroka Medical Centre. Israel said at least 24 people had been killed in the country since the start of the conflict. Iranian state media last updated its death toll on Sunday 15 June, when it said 224 people had been Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) - a Washington-based human rights organisation that has long tracked Iran - has said 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday last military continued its strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure on Thursday, saying it had struck an "inactive nuclear reactor" in Arak in overnight raids which also saw the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz targeted again.
Argaam
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Argaam
Trump says to decide on Iran action in next 2 weeks
The White House said President Trump will make a decision on potential strikes on Iran "within two weeks." Citing a message from Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."
SBS Australia
3 hours ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Donald Trump says he'll decide on US involvement in Israel-Iran conflict within next two weeks
Donald Trump says he'll decide within two weeks on potential US military action against Iran. Israeli airstrikes hit nuclear sites; Iran retaliates with drones and missiles. Trump's envoy and Iran's foreign minister have held secret talks during the conflict. United States President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table. Citing a message from Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks." The Republican president has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting the US might join the fighting on Israel's side. On Wednesday, he said nobody knew what he would do. A day earlier he mused on social media about killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , then demanded Iran's unconditional surrender. The threats have caused cracks in Trump's support base between more hawkish traditional Republicans and the party's more isolationist elements. But critics said that in the five months since returning to office, Trump has issued a range of deadlines - including to warring Russia and Ukraine and to other countries in trade tariff negotiations — only to suspend those deadlines or allow them to slide. "I think going to war with Iran is a terrible idea, but no one believes this 'two weeks' bit," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on the social media platform X. "He's used it a million times before to pretend he might be doing something he's not. It just makes America look weak and silly." As the BBC's North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher highlighted this morning, Trump has previously threatened Russia with a two week deadline to demonstrate its willingness to end the war in Ukraine of face new sanctions but has yet to announce his decision, despite the deadline passing. In May, he also set a two-three week timeframe for trading partners to respond to new import duties, only for that deadline to pass without action. Leavitt told a regular briefing at the White House that Trump was interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution with Iran, but his top priority was ensuring that Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon. She said any deal would have to prohibit enrichment of uranium by Tehran and eliminate Iran's ability to achieve a nuclear weapon. "The president is always interested in a diplomatic solution ... if there's a chance for diplomacy, the president's always going to grab it," Leavitt said. "But he's not afraid to use strength as well I will add." Leavitt declined to say if Trump would seek congressional authorisation for any strikes on Iran. Democrats have raised concerns over reports on CBS and other outlets that Trump has already approved a plan to attack Iran, bypassing Congress, which has the sole power to declare war. Leavitt said US officials remained convinced that Iran had never been closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying it would take Tehran just "a couple of weeks" to produce such a weapon. Leavitt's assessment contradicted congressional testimony in March from Trump's intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard. She said then that the US intelligence community continued to judge that Tehran was not working on a nuclear warhead. This week, Trump dismissed Gabbard's March testimony, telling reporters: "I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having one." On Wednesday, Trump lieutenant Steve Bannon urged caution about the US joining Israel in trying to destroy Iran's nuclear program. Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel after hitting an Israeli hospital overnight, as a week-old air war escalated and neither side showed any sign of an exit strategy. Leavitt said Trump had been briefed on the Israeli operation on Thursday and remained in close communication with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She said Iran was in "a deeply vulnerable position" and would face grave consequences if it did not agree to halt its work on a nuclear weapon. Iran has been weighing wider options in responding to the biggest security challenge since its 1979 revolution. Three diplomats told Reuters that Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes last week. Netanyahu said on Thursday that the change or fall of Iran's leadership was not a goal of Israel's attacks but could be a result. "The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is first and foremost a matter for the Iranian people. There is no substitute for this. "And that's why I didn't present it as a goal. It could be a result, but it's not a stated or formal goal that we have," Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel's Kan public television. He said Israel had the power to remove all of Iran's nuclear facilities, whether US President Donald Trump decides to join in or not. Military analysts believe Israel might need the help of US military bunker-busting bombs to destroy the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program buried beneath a mountain near the city of Qom.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
White House says Trump will decide within 2 weeks whether to strike Iran
President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks whether to strike Iran, the White House said Thursday, saying Trump still sees a 'substantial' chance that negotiations can achieve U.S. and Israeli demands on Iran's nuclear program.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Athlete Sounds Off on ‘Weird' Moment With Trump at the White House
A member of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team said he was 'caught by surprise' by the 'weird' press conference President Donald Trump held for him and his Juventus teammates in the Oval Office. The storied Italian soccer club was in Washington, D.C., for the FIFA Club World Cup and made a 15-minute appearance at the White House Wednesday afternoon. The president introduced the two Juventus players who also play for the national U.S. men's team—Tim Weah and Weston McKennie—and told journalists gathered in the Oval Office there would be a game that night. He then invited the reporters to ask questions about FIFA. But the political journalists in the room were more interested in asking about Iran and other political topics, forcing the players to stand by awkwardly while Trump discussed missile strikes, travel bans, and women playing men's sports. Speaking to reporters after the Juventus game, Weah said the White House visit was a surprise. 'They told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go,' the 25-year-old said, according to The Athletic. 'I was caught by surprise, honestly. It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it's kind of like, I just want to play football man.' Officials didn't give an explanation for who organized the visit or why, but sources told The Athletic that the White House extended the invitation. FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Exor chief John Elkann were also there and presented Trump with jerseys. Exor, which is a holding company controlled by the Elkann-Agnelli family, owns a majority stake in the club. Elkann has met with Trump repeatedly in Washington as the chair of Stellantis—the automaker conglomerate that owns the Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, and Maserati brands, among others—and traveled to Saudi Arabia with him in May, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. During Wednesday's press conference, Trump took a press pool question about former President Joe Biden's administration and used it as an opportunity to grill the Juventus players on gender politics. After claiming the 'autopen' was running the Biden White House, Trump said, 'He wasn't making a decision… He was never for open borders and he was never for transgender for everybody, or men playing in women's sports.' The president then turned to the Juventus players and asked, 'Could a woman make your team, fellas? Tell me, what do you think?' A couple of players seemed to shrug and say yes, prompting Trump to say, 'You're being nice,' and then direct the question to the team's general manager, Damien Comolli. Comolli tried to deflect, saying, 'We have a very good women's team.' 'But they should be playing with women,' Trump said. When nobody answered, he turned to the press pool and said, 'See, they're very diplomatic.' The players then shuffled their feet and crossed their arms while the president answered questions about Iran and went on a tangent about the futility of war, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the American Civil War. 'You look right up there. I see the Declaration of Independence and I say, 'I wonder if the Civil War—it always seemed to me that could have been solved without losing 600,000-plus people.'' The Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War, not the Civil War, though Trump was basically right that an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 people died during the Civil War. After the Juventus game, Weah told reporters it was his first time visiting the White House. 'I guess it was a cool experience being in the White House,' he said. 'But I'm not one for the politics, so it wasn't that exciting.' His fellow U.S. Men's National Team player McKennie also shook Trump's hand during the visit. During Trump's first term, McKennie had told a German media outlet that he didn't support the president.
