The world is waiting for President Donald Trump’s decision on whether the United States will join Israel in military action to eliminate Tehran nuclear facilities.
While weighing his options, Trump is being squeezed by different pressures of the forces at home and abroad.
The president snuggled with advisors in the situation room twice this week, and was ready to do it again on Thursday. He approved the attack plans presented to him, but he was waiting to see if they would be willing to negotiate and has not made a final decision, sources familiar with the matter to ABC News said.
Advancing with military action would be a deviation from the promise of Trump’s “America First” campaign to keep the United States out of foreign tangles. The possibility of doing so has caused a sharp gap in its republican supporter base.
The members of the Republican Party of the Republican Party are pressing so that Trump takes aggressive measures instead of following diplomacy. Republican senator Lindsey Graham, during an interview in Fox News earlier this week, said that the United States needs to “finish the job” with Iran.
Meanwhile, the greatly popular magic media figures such as Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon helped boost Trump’s movement in 2016 and in 2024 they are asking for moderation.
A survey on Fox News Wednesday discovered that voters divided into the themes faced by Trump. Most registered voters surveyed believe that Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear program would result in greater danger. But a majority also believes that Iran represents a national security threat to the United States
Trump, in response to the disagreement between his base, says his supporters are “more in love” of him than ever.
Democrats in Congress are raising their own concerns about Trump’s power authority. Sen Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, moved to limit Trump’s powers by introducing a floor resolution that would require Congress approval before the United States could get involved in a military conflict with Iran.
President Donald Trump talks about the press at the Oval Office of the White House while the members of the Juventus Italian football club visit in Washington, on June 18, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Images
On the world stage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to press Trump to join the fray, arguing that it is of interest to the United States.
“Today, it’s Tel Aviv. Tomorrow, it’s New York. Look, I understand ‘America first’. I don’t understand ‘America Dead’. That’s what these people want,” Netanyahu told ABC News Washington, Jonathan Karl, last week.
Netanyahu added: “We are not only fighting our enemy. We are fighting your enemy. For the love of God, they sing:” Death to Israel, death to America. “We are simply on his way.
Iran, however, and their allies (Russia and China) are pushing against the participation of the United States. Tehran warned that any action would be fulfilled with reprisals.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatolá Ali Khamenei said Wednesday: “Americans should know, the Iranian nation will not surrender, and any intervention by the United States will encounter a blunt response and irreparable damage.”
“The war will meet war, bombings and strike strike. Iran will not undergo any demand or dictated,” Khamenei said.
The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, testifying before a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, said the US army was “ready and prepared” to carry out any decision that Trump will make.
Hegesh told legislators that Trump “has options and is informed what those options could be and what could be the ramifications of those options.” He also said that “the maximum protection of force is being maintained at all times” for US troops in the region.
Trump offered a clue about his decision -making process while taking reporting questions at the Oval office on Wednesday afternoon.
“I like to make the final decision a second before it is due, because things change, especially with war,” said the president.
