Trump to give himself two weeks to decide whether to strike Iran

The White House said President Donald Trump would decide in two weeks whether to join Israel‘s campaign to dismantle Iran‘s nuclear program.

“Now, regarding the ongoing situation in Iran, I know there has been a lot of speculation amongst all of you in the media regarding the president’s decision-making and whether or not the United States will be directly involved,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.

“In light of that news, I have a message directly from the president, and I quote, ‘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.’ That’s a quote directly from the president for all of you today.”

Trump ignited speculation that the U.S. would soon enter the war when he abruptly departed the G7 Summit in Canada a day ahead of schedule early Tuesday morning. The president spent the day hunkered down with his National Security team in the White House Situation Room and publicly threatened Iran on social media.

However, U.S. warplanes did not partake in Israeli airstrikes that night or the following day, and Trump directly told reporters Wednesday at the White House that he wouldn’t signal when, or even if, America would join the war effort.

“You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question,” Trump laughed when asked when the U.S. might enter the fray. “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this — that Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate.”

Furthermore, the president suggested that Iran would consider sending intermediaries directly to the White House to resume negotiations.

Leavitt echoed Trump’s sentiments during Thursday’s briefing, telling reporters that “the president is always interested in a diplomatic solution to the problems in the global conflicts in this world.”

“He is a peacemaker in chief. He is the peace through strength president, and so if there’s a chance for diplomacy, the president’s always going to grab it, but he’s not afraid to use strength as well,” she continued.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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