As President Donald Trump huddled with his top advisers in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday, U.S. officials signaled that the next 24 to 48 hours would be critical in determining whether a diplomatic solution with Iran is possible — or if the president might resort to military action instead.
Trump significantly ramped up his rhetoric against the Iranian regime ahead of the meeting, asserting that the U.S. knew exactly where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was 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,” Trump wrote on social media.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” he claimed in another post.
President Donald Trump departs after a family photo during the Group of Seven Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025.
Suzanne Plunkett/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A last chance for diplomacy?
Despite the apparent saber rattling, U.S. negotiators on Tuesday continued to assess that Iran is in a weak position and could be forced to come back to the negotiating table and to ultimately accept a deal that would require it abandon all nuclear enrichment, according to multiple officials involved in the diplomatic process.
As Iran and Israel trade blows, the Iranian regime has signaled a willingness to resume discussions with the U.S., the officials said, adding that the Trump administration has been looking for more concrete commitments before backing off the war path.
If Iran returns to the negotiations and agrees to drop its uranium enrichment, U.S. officials believe a high-level meeting led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and potentially Vice President JD Vance would happen as soon as this week.
But that scenario likely requires Iran to move quickly. The president has already acknowledged his patience with the situation in the Middle East is wearing thin.
Sources familiar with the president’s mindset said he has grown frustrated by a destabilized Iran’s inability to provide the administration with immediate answers and also appears highly disinclined to allow for a situation to unfold where it appears as if Tehran has successfully called his military bluff.
Airmen look at a GBU-57, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri, May 2, 2023.
U.S. Air Force via AP, FILE
A ‘defensive’ US posture — for now
The U.S. military is already sending…
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