President Donald Trump will decide whether or not to strike Iran in the next two weeks, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
She said the president was still holding out on a diplomatic solution, though wouldn’t provide details about what U.S.-Iran talks would look like.
Leavitt read a direct statement to reporters from Trump at the top of her briefing.
‘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 Trump statement read.
Leavitt also said she welcomed a question when a journalist asked if Iran was a few weeks away from ‘obtaining enough enriched uranium to start building a weapon’ or ‘completing production of a weapon.’
‘Let’s be very clear, Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,’ Leavitt answered. ‘All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that.’
‘And it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would, of course, pose an existential threat not just to Israel but to the United States and to the entire world,’ Leavitt continued.
The world has been awaiting Trump’s decision on whether he’ll join Israel’s current war with Iran, which has now stretched a week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from President Donald Trump during Thursday’s press briefing articulating that he would make a decision whether to join Israel and strike Iran in the next two weeks
In particular, Israel has wanted U.S. assistance with bombing Iran’s Fordow nuclear site.
But the idea of military action against Iran has gotten Trump in trouble some some factions of the MAGA right, after he promised as a candidate to get the United States out of ‘forever wars’ and pledged ‘World War III’ wouldn’t occur under his watch.
‘Trust in President Trump,’ she said, when asked near the top of the briefing what the president’s message is to everyday Trump supporters, who might be skeptical of any military action.
She said the U.S. was now looking for a deal with Iran that would include ‘no enrichment of uranium’ and reiterated that Iran wouldn’t be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
‘With respect to Iran, nobody should be surprised by the president’s position that Iran absolutely cannot obtain a nuclear weapon,’ Leavitt also said.
Leavitt also said the previous deal on the table through Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was ‘both realistic and acceptable.’
She wouldn’t give much more detail on when diplomatic talks might happen.
‘Out of respect for the ongoing discussions and negotiations, I am not going to get into the details of them. We’ve provided you confirmation,’ Leavitt said.
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. He didn’t appear before the press on Thursday though sent press secretary Karoline Leavitt to the podium with a message saying he’d make a decision on U.S. military involvement in Iran in the next two weeks
Mourners are photographed on Thursday In Ahvaz, Iran at a funeral for a person killed in an Israeli airstrike as the war between Israel and Iran hits a week
Witkoff was spotted by CNN alongside other Trump advisers at the White House on Thursday, with Leavitt suggesting he wouldn’t be heading to Geneva, where the Europeans are scheduled to have talks with an Iranian delegation on Friday.
Oman had previously hosted U.S.-Iran talks and three Iranian planes had been spotted landing in the capital of Muscat on Wednesday.
‘As for correspondence between the United States and the Iranians, I can confirm that correspondence has continued. As you know, we were engaged with six rounds of negotiations with them in both indirect and direct ways,’ Leavitt answered.
Trump had also pitched the Iranians coming to see him at the White House.
One reporter pointed out that if an Iranian delegation could get as far as Geneva, could they be coming to Washington as well?
‘I am not going to get into hypotheticals,’ Leavitt answered. ‘But as you heard from the president yesterday, they have expressed interest in doing that.’
