President Trump says he’s not taking any options off the table with respect to Iran, including resuming negotiations about the country’s nuclear program. He is due to meet with his national security team in the Situation Room at the White House on Wednesday night. 

The possibility of American involvement in the Israel–Iran war ratcheted up on Monday night, when the president posted on Truth Social that everyone should evacuate the capital city of Tehran. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he knew where Iran’s supreme leader was situated, though he was not ready to take him out. 

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the president said he has “ideas” about what he wants to do, though he has not yet made a final decision. 

“I have ideas as to what to do but I haven’t made a final [decision]. I like to make a final decision one second before it’s due because things change,” he said. “Especially with war. Things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other.”

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump had lunch with the head of the Pakistani military, Field Marshal Asim Munir. The president said he and the military leader discussed Iran. 

“They know Iran very well — better than most. They’re not happy about anything,” Mr. Trump said of his lunch meeting. 

When asked about why he decided to shift his posture from wanting to stay out of any conflict in order to achieve a negotiate settlement to considering direct American strikes on Iran, the president said Israel’s military prowess gave him some inspiration. 

“I think it started that first night. That first night was devastating and it really knocked [Iran] off,” the president said Wednesday. 

“They should’ve made the deal,” Mr. Trump said, blaming the Iranians for not agreeing to dismantle their nuclear program for military purposes. “In the end they decided not to do it, and now they wish they did it.”

“I’ve been saying for 20 years — maybe longer — that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I’ve been saying it for a long time,” he said. “I think they were a few weeks away from having one. They had to sign a document … it was a fair deal.”

The president said that if the Iranians did want to come back to the table, then the decommissioning of their Fordow enrichment site is not a prerequisite for him. “No, it’s just something people talk about happening,” Mr. Trump said of closing the plant. “We’re the only ones that have the capability to [attack] it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it at all.”

The president says he “may” still welcome an Iranian delegation at the White House for discussions. 

When asked if he thought the ayatollah’s regime could fall, Mr. Trump said, “Anything could happen.”