President Trump now says any decision he makes on striking Iran will come within the next two weeks. He has been meeting with his national security team in the Situation Room over the course of several days ever since he told Iranians to evacuate the capital city of Tehran. 

Speaking to reporters at the White House briefing on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from Mr. Trump laying out his timeline for making decisions about military action.

“I know there has been a lot of speculation amongst all of you in the media regarding the president’s decision-making,” Ms. Leavitt said at the top of the briefing. “In light of that … I have a message directly from the president.”

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Mr. Trump said in his statement, read by his press secretary. 

Mr. Trump has been dogged by reporters about what he plans to do with respect to Iran. On Monday, he warned that people should evacuate Tehran. On Tuesday, he said America had control of Iranian airspace, and that he knew the location of Iran’s supreme leader, though he would not be taking him out “yet.”

By Wednesday afternoon, the president was again declaring that all options were on the table. 

“I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m gonna do,” he said at an event at the White House on Wednesday. 

Mr. Trump ran on a platform that included ending both the Israel–Hamas war, and the Russia–Ukraine war. He also promised to keep the American military out of any new conflicts. When asked by a reporter on Thursday what the president’s message would be to those of his supporters who don’t want to see American bombs falling in the Middle East, Ms. Leavitt simply said that everyone should trust the president. 

“Trust in President Trump,” Ms. Leavitt said. “President Trump has incredible instincts.”

The press secretary confirmed that communications between the United States and Iran are ongoing, as Mr. Trump tries to revive negotiations to end the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. On Friday, members of the European Union are due to meet with Iranian officials at Geneva for talks about their nuclear capabilities. 

Ms. Leavitt declined to say if any American officials will be attending that meeting. 

“If there is a chance for diplomacy, the president’s always going to grab it,” Ms. Leavitt said. 

When asked if regime change was on the table, Ms. Leavitt seemed to say that that is not a goal of the Trump administration. Rather, they’re focused on simply eliminating the possibility that a nuclear weapon can be developed. 

“The president’s top priority right now is ensuring that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability in the Middle East,” she said.

Since Mr. Trump abruptly left the G7 summit in Canada on Monday in order to attend to the Iran situation from the White House, several of his most ardent supporters have called on him to stay away from the conflict entirely. Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon — arguably the two most influential people in the populist America First movement — both say that it would be a grave mistake. 

“I think we are going to see the end of [the] American empire,” Mr. Carlson said on Mr. Bannon’s podcast this week.