President Trump said the next several days will be crucial to his decision on whether he orders the U.S. military to join in the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel over Iran’s nuclear program.

“Nothing’s finished until it’s finished. You know, war is very complex,” Mr. Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House. “A lot of bad things can happen. A lot of turns are made. So I don’t know. I wouldn’t say that we want anything yet. I would say that we sure as hell made a lot of progress.” 

He said, “The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week, maybe less.”

Mr. Trump said, “We’re not looking for long-term” war, but he wants to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

“That’s it, it’s not a question of anything else,” the president said.

Mr. Trump said if Iran were allowed to have a nuclear weapon, they would use it on the U.S. and others. Iran has maintained that their nuclear program is peaceful.

The president on Tuesday called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” but its leader rejected that idea Wednesday.

Mr. Trump also said he knows where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is and wouldn’t kill him “at least for now.”

After Israel’s initial bombing of Iran on Friday, the president moved to distance the U.S. from Israel’s campaign. He seemed to have a change of heart Wednesday, using “we” when referring to plans to handle Iran.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.