President Donald Trump said he was considering whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran on Wednesday, June 18, as he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations. Speaking as he watched the installation of a new flagpole at the White House, Trump added that his patience "had already run out" with Iran and repeated his call for the Islamic Republic's "unconditional surrender."
"I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn when asked if he had decided whether to launch US air strikes. "I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate."
Trump said Iran had even suggested sending officials to the White House to negotiate on Tehran's nuclear program to end Israel's air assault, but added that it was "very late."
"I said it's very late to be talking. We may meet. There's a big difference between now and a week ago, right? Big difference," Trump added. "They've suggested that they come to the White House. That's, you know, courageous, but it's, like, not easy for them to do."
Asked what he meant when he called in a social media post on Tuesday for Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!," Trump again suggested that his patience had run out with Iran. "It's very simple – unconditional surrender. That means I've had it, okay? I've had it. I give up, no more, we go and blow up all the nuclear stuff that's all over the place," Trump said.
Trump compared Iran to "schoolyard bullies," adding: "And now they're not bullies any more, but we'll see what happens." When asked if it was too late for negotiations, he said: "Nothing is too late."
"I'm not looking to fight," Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office. "But if it’s a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do. Nothing is finished until it is finished,” Trump added. But 'the next week is going to be very big − maybe less than a week."
Trump also offered a terse response to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender. "I say good luck," Trump said.
Meanwhile, Trump downplayed any notion that his supporters are cooling on him amid uncertainty over whether he will order a US strike on Iran, addressing a rift between some of his most vocal MAGA backers and national security conservatives.
"My supporters are more in love with me today, and I'm more in love with them, more than they even were at election time where we had a total landslide. I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, but I have some people that are very happy, and I have people outside of the base that can't believe that this is happening, they're so happy," he said.