WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump in about eight hours Monday went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.
He was expected to arrive at the White House early Tuesday at a moment of choosing in his presidency. Israel, with four days of missile strikes, has done considerable damage to Iran and believes it can now deal a permanent blow to Tehran's nuclear program — particularly if it gets a little more help from Trump.
But deepening American involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites built deep underground or offering other direct U.S. military support, comes with enormous political risk for Trump.
He appears to be gradually building the public case for more direct American involvement.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump posted on social media shortly before the White House announced that Trump was cutting short his visit to the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Trump’s shift in tone comes as the U.S. has repositioned warships and military aircraft in the region to respond if the conflict between Israel and Iran further escalates.
Speculation grows that Trump may be tilting toward more direct involvement
The Israelis say their offensive has eviscerated Iran's air defenses and they can now strike targets across the country at will. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli bombardment will continue until Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missiles are destroyed.
So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility.
The site is buried deep underground — and to eliminate it, Israel may need the U.S. bunker-busting bomb the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. But Israel does not have the munition or the bomber needed to deliver it — the penetrator is currently delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber.
Israel’s own defenses remain largely intact in the face of Iran's retaliatory strikes, but some of Tehran's missiles are getting through and having deadly impact.
The White House, soon after announcing Trump was returning to Washington, dispatched Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a prime-time Fox News appearance as speculation grows about whether Trump could be tilting toward more direct U.S. involvement.
Hegseth told Fox News' Jesse Watters that “of course” Trump wanted to see a deal made to curb Iran's nuclear program.
“His position has not changed,” Hegseth said. “What you’re watching in real time is peace through strength and America first. Our job is to be strong. We are postured defensively in the region to be strong in pursuit of a peace deal. And we certainly hope that’s what happens here.”
Trump continues to push Iran to negotiate on its nuclear program
Trump, meanwhile, during an exchange with reporters Monday on the sidelines of the G7, declined to say what it would take for the U.S. to get more directly involved.
Instead, he continued to press Iran on negotiations over its nuclear program.
“They should talk, and they should talk immediately,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He added, “I’d say Iran is not winning this war.”
To be certain, Trump in the days-old conflict has sought to restrain Netanyahu. He rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The Israelis had informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.
After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A widening schism over Iran among Trump's MAGA supporters
Trump on Monday bristled when asked about some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further U.S. involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end U.S. involvement in expensive and endless wars.
Carlson, a former Fox News host pundit, last week called Trump “complicit in the act of war” in his subscriber newsletter.
Trump took a veiled swipe at Carlson, who for years hosted a popular prime-time show for Fox News, but was ousted in 2023 amid a cascade of bad legal news for the network.
“I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying,” Trump told reporters. “Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.”
Later, Trump took another jab at Carlson, who had spoken on Trump's behalf at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
“Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,’ IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’” the president wrote on social media.
Other prominent Trump supporters have also raised concerns about how far the president should go in backing Israel.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk are among prominent Trump World allies who have noted that voters backed Trump because he promised not to entangle the nation in foreign clashes and to be wary of expanding U.S. involvement in the Mideast conflict.
He ran on a promise to quickly end the brutal wars in Gaza and Ukraine, but has struggled to find an endgame to either of those conflicts.
“No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” Kirk posted on X last week, shortly before Israel began carrying out its strikes. "I’m very concerned based on (everything) I’ve seen in the grassroots the last few months that this will cause a massive schism in MAGA and potentially disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful Presidency."
But there are also Trump backers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who are making the case that this is Trump's moment to deliver a decisive blow to Iran. Graham is calling for Trump to "go all-in” in backing Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
“No one can say that President @realDonaldTrump has not tried to seek peace regarding Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Iran,” Graham wrote on X on Monday night. “He has gone the extra mile and I appreciate that. However, you have to have willing partners to make peace. Iran played the same old game with the wrong guy.”
Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Tara Copp, Darlene Superville and Will Weissert contributed reporting.