President Donald Trump said Thursday the Wall Street Journal “has no idea what” his thoughts on Iran are after the outlet reported he has authorized attack plans.
Trump blasted the Journal in a Truth Social post.
“The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!” he wrote.
Citing three anonymous sources “familiar with deliberations,” the paper reported that Trump had authorized attack plans “but was holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran will abandon its nuclear program.”
The story and Trump’s denial of it come after he kept the world guessing as to his next move on Wednesday. When asked if the U.S. was moving closer to striking Iran, Trump said, “I can’t say that.”
“You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question? ‘Will you strike the Iranian nuclear component, and what time exactly, Sir? Sir, would you strike it? Would you please inform us so we can be there and watch?’” he said.
“I mean, you don’t know that I’m going to do it. You don’t know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he added.
He also noted that he was open to negotiating with Iran, saying, “It’s never too late.”
However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Iran will not surrender, despite Trump saying on Tuesday he knew of Khamenei’s whereabouts, touting control of Iranian airspace, and calling for unconditional surrender.
Trump was asked Wednesday for his response to Khamenei’s comments.
“What do you say to the supreme leader of Iran who says that they will not surrender?” a reporter asked.
“I say good luck,” he replied, mocking Khamenei.
While he returned from the G7 on Monday, as tensions in the Middle East grew amid the war between Iran and Israel, Trump told reporters he believed Iran was “very close” to a nuclear weapon.
He has been adamant for more than a decade that Iran cannot achieve a nuclear weapon, and has emphasized that Iran ignored its 60-day ultimatum that he set to strike a deal on ending its nuclear program. The deadline passed on Thursday before Israel carried out its strikes on Friday.
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