President Donald Trump convened a meeting with his advisers in the Situation Room on Tuesday afternoon, as hostilities between Israel and Iran escalate.
The meeting took place shortly after Trump returned to the White House, having left the G7 summit in Canada early due to concerns over the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Upon his arrival, he instructed his national security team to assemble in the Situation Room in preparation for discussions about the conflict.
Pool reporters were informed of the meeting just after 2:20 p.m. ET, although the exact start time remains unclear.
A White House official confirmed that Trump communicated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the day.
Despite this engagement, Trump denied having any discussions with Iranian leaders, explicitly stating he had not reached out regarding a potential ceasefire.
He expressed that he was “not too much in the mood” to negotiate with Iran.
“I’ve been negotiating. I told them to do the deal,” Trump stated to reporters aboard Air Force One.
“They should have done the deal. The cities have been blown to pieces, lost a lot of people. They should have done the deal. I told them do the deal, so I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”
Furthermore, Trump appeared to dismiss comments made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier in March, where she claimed Iran was not in the process of building a nuclear weapon.
On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his belief that Iran is “very close” to developing such a weapon.
Through a post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated he had not contacted Iran “in any way, shape or form,” referring to reports claiming otherwise as “fabricated.”
Trump added, “If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. They should have taken the deal that was on the table — Would have saved a lot of lives!!!”
In recent developments, Israel launched a series of aerial strikes against Iran last Friday, which officials characterized as a preemptive attack.
Israeli leaders and Trump have both called for Iran to cease its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Diplomatic discussions between the United States and Iran began in Oman in April, with a sixth round of talks scheduled to begin last Sunday.
However, those discussions were cancelled as hostilities erupted between Israel and Iran.
When asked about Gabbard’s statements to the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding Iran, Trump dismissed her remarks.
“I don’t care what she said, I think they were very close to having one,” Trump remarked.
While Trump has not excluded the possibility of American involvement in the conflict, the U.S. has primarily observed from the sidelines.
He issued a stern warning to Iran on Tuesday about U.S. troops and assets in the region, directing Tehran not to « touch our troops. »
“We’ll come down so hard if they do anything to our people,” Trump emphasized to reporters aboard Air Force One.
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