Trump during a Cabinet meeting in December. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty
President Trump convened his top advisers on Wednesday for a meeting on the crisis with Iran, two U.S. officials tell Axios.
- Trump was briefed on the nuclear talks held earlier this week in Geneva and the group discussed next steps.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize.
- A U.S. military operation in Iran would likely be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like full-fledged war than last month’s pinpoint operation in Venezuela, sources say.
- Trump’s military and rhetorical build-ups make it hard for him to back down without major concessions from Iran on its nuclear program.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday “there are many arguments one can make in favor of a strike against Iran.”
- She said Trump prefers diplomacy and stressed “Iran would be wise to make a deal.”
Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials attended Wednesday’s meeting.
- One U.S. official said the Iranians need to come back to the Trump administration by the end of the month with a package of steps that addresses the concerns the U.S. presented in Geneva regarding their nuclear program.
- “The Iranian foreign minister told Kushner and Witkoff a lot of positive things but the devil is in the details. The ball in Iran’s court, so lets see,” the official said.
- A second U.S. official expressed deep skepticism and said the talks in Geneva were “a nothing-burger.”
- U.S. officials say the arrival of the USS Ford aircraft carrier and its strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean in the coming days will be a key factor in the timing of a possible military campaign against Iran.
- Rubio is also planning to visit Israel at the end of the month for talks about Iran, a U.S. official said.
- In addition to Iran, Trump was briefed on the Ukraine-Russia negotiations and the Gaza Board of Peace meeting that is set to take place on Thursday, U.S. officials said
- AXIOS
