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WASHINGTON — As Israel and Iran trade fire for the sixth day, President Donald Trump faces perhaps the biggest decision yet of his second term: whether to plunge the United States directly into the war by authorizing strikes that could sharply escalate the conflict.
"I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump told reporters on Wednesday when asked about possible US strikes on Iran.
Trump said that despite previously refusing direct negotiations with his administration, Iranian officials have now suggested meeting at the White House. The Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York issued a swift denial that its leadership ever asked "to grovel at the gates of the White House."
"It's very late to be talking," Trump said. "There's a big difference between now and a week ago."
Since Israel launched its assault on Friday, the Trump administration has gone from distancing itself from the strikes to offering full-throated support for them. Trump took on a decidedly more confrontational tone on Tuesday with a series of Truth Social posts that directly threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and called for the country’s "unconditional surrender." Khamenei responded to Trump's labeling him an "easy target,” warning in a televised statement on Wednesday that Iran would inflict “irreparable damage” should the United States enter the war.
The region is now scrambling to assess whether the US president, who once pledged to bring an end to the Middle East's wars, is preparing to involve the United States in yet another.
“We're seeing in real time his thinking play out on this issue of whether he should become involved,” said Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
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