What happened
President Donald Trump met with his top aides in the White House Situation Room for 80 minutes on Tuesday and hinted on social media that he was moving closer to joining Israel’s attack on Iran. The conflict entered its sixth day Wednesday morning with more Israeli strikes inside Iran, and Tehran responding with missiles and drones.
Who said what
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump said on social media Tuesday. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” and while “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least for now … our patience is wearing thin.” Just three minutes later he posted, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump’s “sometimes contradictory and cryptic messaging about the conflict” has “deepened the uncertainty surrounding the crisis,” Reuters said.
Officials who previously assessed that Trump would sit out the war told The Washington Post they now believed he was “considering joining the attack,” a move that “risked sucking Washington into a new Middle Eastern conflict” with “dangerous and unpredictable consequences for U.S. citizens,” but “also offered the chance to eliminate a foe’s nuclear program.”
Before attacking Iran, Israel tried to convince the U.S. that “Tehran was conducting renewed research useful for a nuclear weapon,” but “U.S. officials briefed by the Israelis weren’t convinced,” The Wall Street Journal said. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that Iran hadn’t decided to restart its nuclear weapons program. “I don’t care what she said, I think they were very close to having them,” Trump said when reporters reminded him of that assessment Tuesday.
What next?
Israel’s attacks “may have changed Iran’s calculus” and “convinced Tehran that the only way to prevent future attacks would be to develop a full nuclear deterrent,” The New York Times said. In the meantime, Iran has “prepared missiles and other military equipment for strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East” if the U.S. joins “Israel’s war against the country.”
Trump met with his top aides in the Situation Room on Tuesday
