President Donald Trump said Friday that he is “considering” limited military strikes on Iran, which he suggested would force the country to the negotiating table.
“I guess I can say I am considering that,” the president said when asked by a reporter at a White House gubernatorial event if he was considering a limited military strike to force Iran into a deal. The Trump administration has been eyeing such an agreement in an effort to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Trump has sought to avoid military intervention amid concerns about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and he has, for months, engaged in diplomatic negotiations with the country, sending special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with Iranian officials this week for another round of talks.
But a clear breakthrough on an agreement has failed thus far to materialize. On Thursday, Trump said he thinks 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Tehran to reach a deal with the United States.
“We’re going to make a deal or get a deal one way or the other,” the president said.
Iran, a theocratic Islamic regime, is viewed as the world’s leading sponsor of terrorists, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Washington has raised fears that the country is working on nuclear weapons to wage jihad against the West. A major uprising against the Iranian government sparked in late December 2025, though the regime has sought to crack down on opposition by killing thousands of protesters. At the time, Trump floated military intervention to support the protesters.
The president has not yet made the final decision about whether to strike Iran, CBS News reported Thursday. Senior national security officials have told Trump that the military is ready for strikes as soon as Saturday, but the timeline for any action is likely to extend beyond this weekend, according to the outlet.
In the meantime, the president is considering an initial, limited military strike on Iranian military or government sites, the Wall Street Journal reported the same day. If Iran still does not agree to U.S. demands for the deal, the president could then order a large strike campaign against the regime, according to the outlet.
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“Now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we’re doing,” Trump said this week at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace.
“And if they join us, that’ll be great,” he said. “If they don’t join us, that’ll be great, too, but it’ll be a very different path. They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal. Or, if that doesn’t happen — I maybe can understand if it doesn’t happen — it doesn’t happen, but bad things will happen if it doesn’t.”