President Trump gathered his top national security officials Friday morning to review military options against Iran, signaling he is moving closer to authorizing new strikes unless negotiations produce a breakthrough in the coming hours.
Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and other senior advisers attended the Situation Room meeting, where Trump received detailed briefings on the current state of talks and contingency plans should diplomacy fail. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine were absent due to prior commitments in Europe and at the Naval Academy graduation.
The timing underscores the administration's urgency. While the meeting unfolded, Pakistani military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir was in Tehran attempting to mediate, and a Qatari delegation had also arrived to support last-minute negotiations. Munir was scheduled to meet Saturday with Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a central figure in Tehran's decision-making.
A U.S. official involved in the diplomatic effort described the talks as "agonizing," with draft proposals moving back and forth daily without material progress toward agreement.
Trump's sudden schedule change Friday afternoon hinted at the stakes. After a planned speech in New York, he canceled plans to spend the weekend at his Bedminster Golf Club and instead returned to Washington. He announced via Truth Social that he would skip his son Don Jr.'s wedding this weekend, citing "circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America" as the reason he needed to remain at the White House.
Sources close to the president reveal a rapidly shifting calculus. On Tuesday, Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he wanted to give diplomacy another chance. By Thursday night, his position had hardened. He has grown increasingly frustrated with the pace of negotiations over the past several days and is now leaning toward military action.
One source close to Trump said the president has discussed the possibility of a final "decisive" major military operation that could allow him to declare victory and exit the conflict. No final decision to resume the war has been made, but sources with direct knowledge of Trump's thinking say he appears inclined to proceed unless the next 24 hours produce unexpected progress.
Iran's government issued a cautious public statement Friday. The Foreign Ministry said talks were continuing but a deal remained distant. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, quoted a source on the Iranian negotiating team saying talks over disputed issues were ongoing with no final result achieved. That source said the current focus is on ending the war itself, with other issues left aside until that core matter is resolved.
This is not Trump's first brush with resuming military operations. Over the past six weeks, the president has appeared poised to order strikes multiple times, only to step back. Some negotiators still see a narrow window for a breakthrough in the current round. But Trump's repositioning himself in Washington, the convening of his war cabinet, and his accelerating frustration all signal the window may be closing fast.
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's signaling here is unmistakable: he's given diplomacy a real shot, he's losing patience, and he's preparing his team for a military escalation he may very well authorize before the weekend ends."
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