US President Donald Trump has set a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join Israel’s military campaign against Iran, the White House announced on 19 June 2025.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered Trump’s message directly to reporters: “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.”
The announcement came after Trump spent days keeping the world guessing about his intentions.
Advertisements
On 18 Jun, he told reporters nobody knew what he would do. A day earlier, he mused on social media about killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, then demanded Iran’s unconditional surrender.
Trump Administration Maintains Strategic Ambiguity on Iran Nuclear Threat
The Trump administration believes Iran has “never been closer” to successfully building a nuclear weapon. Leavitt said it would take Tehran just “a couple of weeks” to produce such a weapon.
Trump dismissed intelligence assessments from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who testified in Congress in March that Iran was not working on a nuclear warhead. “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” Trump told reporters this week.
Leavitt said Trump’s top priority was preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Any diplomatic deal would have to prohibit uranium enrichment by Tehran and eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities entirely.
CBS reported that Trump had approved plans to attack Iran but had not made a final decision on implementation. Intelligence sources said the president was holding off in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme.
Trump is reportedly considering strikes on Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, a subterranean uranium enrichment site hidden in a mountainside. The location puts it beyond reach of Israeli weaponry — only the US possesses bombs large enough to destroy the facility.
Diplomatic Efforts Continue Amid Escalating Military Strikes
Behind-the-scenes diplomatic talks are taking place despite the ongoing military conflict. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes last week.
European foreign ministers are scheduled to meet their Iranian counterpart in Switzerland on 20 Jun 2025 as part of broader diplomatic efforts.
Advertisements
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC that US involvement would create “hell for the whole region” and turn the conflict into a “quagmire”. He said this was “not America’s war” and warned that Trump would be remembered as “a president who entered a war he doesn’t belong in”.
The Iranian official said diplomacy remained the “first option” but negotiations could not start while bombardment continued.
The conflict escalated further on 19 Jun when an Iranian missile attack hit the Soroka Medical Centre in southern Israel. Israel’s Ministry of Health reported 71 people wounded in the attack. Iranian state media claimed the strike targeted a military site next to the hospital, not the facility itself.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the hospital complex after the attack. Trump received briefings on Israeli operations and remained in close communication with Netanyahu throughout the crisis.
Israel has reported 24 deaths since the conflict began. Iranian state media last updated its death toll on 15 Jun, reporting 224 casualties. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday last week.
Advertisements
Israel continued striking Iran’s nuclear infrastructure on 19 Jun, targeting an “inactive nuclear reactor” in Arak and the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.
Trump’s threats have created divisions within his Republican support base, splitting traditional hawks from the party’s more isolationist members. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy criticised the two-week deadline on social media, saying “no one believes this ‘two weeks’ bit” and calling it a familiar Trump tactic that “makes America look weak and silly”.
Leavitt declined to say whether Trump would seek congressional authorization for strikes on Iran, despite Democratic concerns over reports that plans had been approved while bypassing Congress.
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
