“I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” Trump told Axios reporter Barak Ravid in a brief interview.
The president told the outlet that Israel, which jointly launched the conflict’s initial strikes with the U.S. on Feb. 28, would join these new military operations “in two minutes if I ask them to.” However, he added that the U.S. does not “need anybody” for a potential next attack.
Earlier on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Trump’s military stance toward Tehran as a “head for an eye.”
The U.S. military is also moving more B-1 bombers, refueling jets and medical personnel into the region.
Iran accused the U.S. of being responsible to strikes on a border crossing with Iraq, which would mark a significant expansion of its geographic targets.
Taken together, many observers viewed these developments as pointing toward a return to an all-out war on par with the U.S.-Israeli operations that wound down in April.
"Escalation has been the likely basecase because 1) the current standoff isn't sustainable, 2) the US window for action is not open-ended, 3) the route to de-escalation is unattractive and difficult, and 4) little scope of Iran backing down," Gregory Brew, a senior analyst on Iran at the Eurasia Group, wrote on X. "Things are going to get worse, before they get better."
But Trump faces major risks if he turns sharply toward escalation, with growing concerns about dwindling U.S. weapons stockpiles and rising energy costs months out from the November midterms.
Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, said he still assessed a return to diplomacy as the more likely outcome.
"The political costs of a deal would be significant. He would face intense criticism from the hawkish foreign policy establishment and influential elements of his own coalition, particularly pro-Israel groups and donors," he wrote on X.
"But those costs may ultimately be far lower than owning another endless, enormously costly war with no clear path to strategic success," he added. "A deal he can always be spin as a victory. A quagmire he cannot."
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