Michael Hernandez
18 June 2025•Update: 18 June 2025
WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump continued to hold the door open to the US joining Israel's attacks against Iran, saying Wednesday that his patience with Tehran has "already run out. That's why we're doing what we're doing."
"I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this: Iran has got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate," Trump told reporters at the White House during a flag raising ceremony. "The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week, maybe less. But is there anybody here that said it would be okay to have a hostile, very, you know, zealous, really -- but to have a hostile country have a nuclear weapon that could destroy 25 miles, but much more than that?".
"This is just not a threat you can have," he added.
Asked if he believed it is too late to resume negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, Trump said, "Really nothing's too late."
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned earlier Wednesday that any direct US involvement in the conflict with Israel will have “irreparable consequences.”
“The Zionist entity (Israel) has made a grave mistake and will face consequences,” Khamenei said in a televised speech. He said that Iran will not forgive the violation of the country’s airspace or the blood of its “martyrs.”
The comments are an apparent response to Trump's demand Tuesday that Iran unconditionally surrender, which he reiterated Wednesday. Asked about his response to Khamenei, Trump said, "Good luck."
"Unconditional surrender, that means I've had it. Okay, I've had it. I give up. No more. Then we go blow up all the, you know, all the nuclear stuff that's all over the place. Now, they had bad intentions. You know, for 40 years, they've been saying, 'Death to America, Death to Israel, death to anybody else that they didn't like,'" he said.
Regional tensions have escalated since Friday, when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks. Meanwhile, in Iran, 585 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to Iranian media reports.
Trump said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "keep going" with his attacks, but added that he has not given Israel any indication that he would aid the effort any more than he already has.
