Trump says he's 'not looking for a fight' with Iran but stands ready to act if necessary

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he doesn't want to carry out a U.S. strike on Iran but suggested he stands ready to act if it's necessary to extinguish Iran's nuclear program.

Trump continued his increasingly pointed warnings about the U.S. joining Israel in striking at Tehran's nuclear program as Iran's leader warned anew that the United States would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it attacks.

The stakes are high for Trump — and the world — as he engages in a push-pull debate between his goals of avoiding dragging the U.S. into another war and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

''I'm not looking to fight," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "But if it's a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.''

Trump pondered his next steps as the U.S. embassy in Israel began evacuating a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave Israel.

Meanwhile, senior European diplomats are set to hold talks with Iran in Geneva on Friday, according to a European official familiar with the matter.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said the high-ranking diplomats from Germany, France and the United Kingdom as well as the European Union's top diplomat will take part in the talks.

Trump, who met with his national security aides for a second straight day in the White House Situation Room, also told reporters it's not ''too late'' for Iran to give up its nuclear program.

''I may do it, I may not do it,'' Trump said of a potential U.S. strike. ''I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.''

''Nothing is finished until it is finished,'' he added, signaling a decision could soon. ''The next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week."

No surrender from Iran

Trump also offered a terse response to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.

''I say good luck,'' Trump said.

Khamenei earlier in the day warned that any U.S. strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will ''result in irreparable damage for them'' and that his country would not bow to Trump's call for surrender.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the Pentagon was providing possible options to Trump as he decides next steps on Iran.

Trump had said Tuesday the U.S. knows where Khamenei is hiding but doesn't want him killed — ''for now.''

''He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump said.

Trump's increasingly muscular comments toward the Iranian government follow him urging Tehran's 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his participation in an international summit earlier this week to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.

Trump said that the Iranian officials continue to reach out to the White House as they're ''getting the hell beaten out of them'' by Israel. But he added there's a ''big difference between now and a week ago" in Tehran's negotiating position.

''They've suggested that they come to the White House — that's, you know, courageous,'' Trump said.

Iran's mission to the United Nations rejected Trump's claim in a statement on social media. ''No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out' Iran's Supreme Leader. ''

Enter Putin

The U.S. president said earlier this week Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to serve as a mediator with Iran. But Trump said he told Putin to keep focused on finding an endgame to his own conflict with Ukraine.

''I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own,''' Trump said he told Putin. ''I said, ‘Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later.'''

The comments represented a shift for Trump, who earlier this week said he was ''open'' to Putin's offer to mediate.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier Wednesday that Moscow has cautioned Washington against offering direct military assistance to Israel.

''We are warning Washington against even speculative, hypothetical considerations of the sort,'' Ryabkov said, according to the Interfax news agency. ''That would be a step drastically destabilizing the situation as a whole.''

The Russia-Iran relationship has deepened since Putin launched a war on Ukraine in February 2022, with Tehran providing Moscow with drones, ballistic missiles, and other support, according to U.S. intelligence findings.

MAGA allies raise questions

Trump is also facing growing skepticism about deepening U.S. involvement in the Mideast crisis from some of his most ardent supporters. Trump during his 2024 run for the White House promised voters he would quickly end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and keep the U.S. out of costly conflicts.

Steve Bannon, who served as a senior adviser to Trump during his first administration, said the administration should tread carefully.

''This is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, ok?" Bannon told reporters at an event sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. "With 92 million people. This is not something you play around with. You have to think this through. And the American people have to be on board. You can't just dump it on them.''

Bannon and other Trump allies, including Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, have raised concerns that direct U.S. involvement in the conflict could be seen as a betrayal to some members of Trump's coalition and cause a schism in MAGA world.

To be certain, some Trump backers are supportive of the president taking military action against Iran and play down the risk of the U.S. getting mired in a conflict.

''In terms of U.S. involvement in military action, there is zero possibility of American boots on the ground in Iran,'' Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said.

Trump pushed back at the notion that deepening U.S. involvement could impact his standing with his base.

''My supporters are more in love with me today, and I'm in love with them more than they were even at election time when we had a total landslide,'' Trump said.

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Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Tara Copp, David Klepper, Matthew Lee, Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville contributed reporting.