A meeting between the US president and his national security team is scheduled for 19 May, Axios writes, citing two US officials. CNN, citing a source, reports that the event will take place “early this week”. No other details are given.
On 16 May, the American president already met with the same group at his golf club in the state of Virginia. Among those present were Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump’s special envoy Steve Whitkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Trump also had a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 17 May.
As The New York Times wrote, in May, Trump’s closest aides prepared plans for new strikes on Iran in case the White House decides to escalate the conflict. Among the proposed options are large-scale bombing of Iranian military facilities, as well as a ground operation to remove enriched uranium from Iran.
Speaking to Axios, Donald Trump said he is still waiting for an updated peace proposal from Tehran, which he hopes should be “better than the last one.”
“We want to make a deal. And they (Iranians – ed.) are not offering us what we want. They have to go to our meeting or they’re going to be hit hard, and they don’t want that,” Trump said, adding that in the case of new US attacks on Iran, the blow would be “much harder than before.”
On the night of 18 May, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image on his social media accounts showing him sitting at a remote control and pressing a big red button, while screens behind him broadcast space-weapon strikes on the ground. One of the strikes resembles a nuclear explosion.
Trump will discuss with his team options for new military action against Iran-American media outlet