Donald Trump held a crisis meeting in the White House Situation Room as he prepares to make the biggest decision of his presidency – whether to engage U.S. forces in Israel’s war with Iran.
The Situation Room gathering with top military and intelligence advisers lasted about 80 minutes and there was no immediate statement from the president.
Trump has already issued a chilling death threat to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, revealing the U.S. knows his precise location and that he is an ‘easy target.’
Four U.S. B-52 Stratofortress bombers are now stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, within striking distance of Iran.
The B-52s, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided bombs, were spotted on a runway at Diego Garcia on Monday.
Trump made his threat to the Ayatollah after abruptly ending G7 meetings in Canada to fly back to Washington.
His sudden departure immediately raised the prospect of an expanded war between Israel and Iran, and the potential for direct U.S. involvement.
Trump even angrily brushed off suggestions from French President Emmanuel Macron that he was returning to Washington to forge a peace deal between Israel and Iran.
Hostilities erupted early Friday when Israel launched a massive pre-emptive strike on Iran, hitting nuclear and military facilities and killing top military brass and nuclear scientists.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday: ‘We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding
‘He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’
The Diego Garcia base, leased to the U.S. by Britain, is one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region,
It was used as a hub for long-range bombers and ships during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Images provided by Planet Labs indicate the bombers arrived there in mid-May.
A C-17 Globemaster III troop and cargo transport plane is also at the base, as well as six jets likely to be KC-135 airborne refueling tankers.
Trump has not committed to using the U.S. military to go on the offense against Iran.
But he has provided Israel with defensive backup during its five-day bombing campaign.
‘We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA,’ Trump wrote.
Trump added in another post: ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’
That was the ultimatum that the allies imposed on Nazi Germany and Japan at the end of World War II.
The flurry of social media posts comes amid speculation about whether the U.S. will intervene to help Israel take out Iran’s nuclear facilities, buried deep underground, with the help of ‘bunker buster’ bombs.
Hours earlier, Trump blasted French President Emmanuel Macron for having suggested he had put forward a ceasefire plan for the conflict.
Trump said the reality was the opposite. But when pressed by the Daily Mail, Trump didn’t name any new steps the U.S. was taking to help Israel as it battles the Islamic Republic.
‘An end. A real end. Not a cease fire. An end,’ he said.
‘I’m not looking at ceasefire. We’re looking at better than ceasefire,’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
He was blunt in his assessment on Iran’s nuclear program.
‘Remember, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple. Not to go too deep into it, but they just can’t have a nuclear weapon.
He also predicted Israel wouldn’t let up.
‘You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far,’ he said.
Earlier, the president said on his Truth Social platform that Macron had ‘mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong!’
Trump went on: ‘He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.’
Trump predicted that Israel would not slow its assault on Iran, which has largely decapitated the Islamic republic’s military command and inflicted significant damage to its controversial nuclear program.
‘They just can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump has repeatedly said of Iran.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of options at his disposal. With ‘complete’ control over Iran’s skies, the U.S. could assist Israel’s bombing campaign, perhaps even by dropping a ‘bunker buster’ munition from one of its fleet of bombers capable of carrying them.
Trump on Sunday said it was ‘possible’ the U.S. would get involved in the conflict.
‘We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,’ Trump told ABC.
There were multiple reports this weekend that Trump had nixed an Israeli request to take out Ayatollah Khamenei.
In his comments to reporters Trump declined to confirm any new threat to U.S. troops or facilities.
‘We have great people that know how to protect themselves… We’ll come down so hard if they do anything to our people.’
There was been mounting that the U.S. might be preparing to strike, even before Trump’s latest comments.
The Pentagon has sent more than 40 additional US jets are said to have been sent to the UK and Europe.
They are thought to include stealth bombers and air-to-air refuelers – which could be critical for any operation in the Middle East.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier group headed to the region from the South China Sea Monday.
Vice President JD Vance has issued comments that appear to brace Trump supporters for possible military action.
‘He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,’ Vance said. ‘That decision ultimately belongs to the president.’
Vance also praised Trump for taking ‘remarkable restraint’ in focusing American troops on the defense of American interests in the Middle East.