WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is taking a “wait and see” approach on whether the U.S. will engage more in the developing situation between Iran and Israel after a tense few days at the White House.
Trump left Washington on Friday afternoon to head to his golf club in New Jersey for the weekend as the two Middle Eastern countries continue to trade airstrikes.
Talking to reporters after landing in New Jersey, Trump said it would be hard to ask Israel to stop its strikes against Iran.
“If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do that than if somebody’s losing,” he said.
On possible negotiations with Iran, Trump said the United States is “ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran and we’ll see what happens.
While the president did not offer more concrete evidence that his position has changed on the conflict, he said he hopes to “always” be a peacemaker, but argued that sometimes, “toughness” is required to make peace.
Trump’s stance
Over the past week, Trump’s focus has been on the intensifying conflict in the Middle East and what role the U.S. should play.
The president left the G7 conference in Canada early to return to Washington on Monday as Israel escalated its efforts to rid Iran of its nuclear capabilities.
Administration officials have insisted that the U.S. is helping from a defensive standpoint currently, but evidence suggests that America may be preparing for more.
Questions have risen about the Pentagon deploying ships and planes to the region, and whether that is to aid Israel, or if it’s a strategy to show force and get Iran to the negotiating table.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from Trump on Thursday that said there’s a “substantial chance” a negotiation with Iran could take place in the “near future.”
“I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks,” Trump said.
On Wednesday, Trump said he didn’t want to carry out a U.S. strike on Iran, but also maintained his position that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. The question remains on whether the U.S. would bomb Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, which is buried deep under a mountain, since reports say the U.S.’s bunker buster bombs would be needed to take it out.
“I’m not looking to fight,” Trump said. “But if it’s a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”
“I may do it, I may not do it,” he said earlier Wednesday. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
With Trump heading to New Jersey for the weekend, it appears no larger signal about U.S. involvement is coming in the near future. But Congress remains as divided as ever, even within the parties, about what they think Trump should do.
Intra-party fighting
While the House was in recess this week, the Senate worked to sift through Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Conservative spending hawks clashed with Republican senators who wanted to push Trump’s agenda forward, but lawmakers also clashed on the issue of Iran.
Some lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans — have expressed support for Israel’s effort to dismantle Iranian nuclear facilities, but others are cautioning against U.S. military participation.
The issue has split both parties, as some lawmakers support Israel’s right to defend itself, while others don’t want the U.S. to involve itself in the fight.
Lawmakers on the left and right have also raised the issue of whether Trump can plunge the U.S. into a war without congressional approval. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a War Powers Resolution that would restrict Trump’s ability to unilaterally authorize the military to the region without lawmaker approval.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., argued that it’s not the United States’ war, and even if it was, Congress must be the one to decide whether to get involved.
Massie isn’t the only one. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., normally a staunch backer of Trump, has argued that war has “bad consequences” and voters last November chose “America first.”
Others, however, are supportive of Trump’s decision making. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said this week that Iran “had to be stopped” because the country would use nuclear weapons against Israel and the U.S. if given the opportunity.
“The president wants peace in the region, he does not want to be a wartime president, but we have to protect our country, our citizens and that’s what this is about,” Johnson said.