Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Syrian Rejal al-Karamah (Men of Dignity) movement: What happened was a dangerous escalation that threatens civil peace and undermines the trust that authorities have worked hard to establish.
Rejal al-Karamah (Men of Dignity) movement: We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal attack on the city of Sweida and Jabal al-Arab by the Damascus government.
Maduro: We reaffirm that Palestine has the right to exist, resist, and live freely in a fully sovereign state with East al-Quds as its capital.
Maduro: Every bomb dropped on a Palestinian hospital, school, or home not only kills innocent lives but also destroys the foundations of world peace.
Maduro: What we are witnessing today in Gaza and throughout Palestine is not a conflict between equal parties, but rather a systematic plan to destroy a people and eradicate their identity.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at the Bogota summit: We raise our voices firmly outraged at the world's silence in the face of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians.
Syria: Sources to Al Mayadeen: Israeli airstrikes target supply lines of military factions affiliated with the Syrian Interim Ministry of Defense outside Sweida and around Daraa.
Al-Saadi: There were concerns that Lahham would be placed under administrative detention.
Al-Saadi: The Israeli occupation authorities could not prove any allegations leveled against Nasser Lahham.
Lawyer Oussama al-Saadi: The oppressive Israeli measures of delaying Lahham's release had vengeful motives.

From threats to timeout: What is Trump's Iran stance?

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Washington Post
  • 21 Jun 2025 14:38
4 Min Read

US President Trump stalls a final decision on Iran as internal MAGA opposition and European diplomacy gain ground.

Listen
  • x
  • President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
    President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Four days after abruptly leaving the G7 summit in Canada and warning civilians to “evacuate Tehran,” US President Donald Trump on Friday signaled a delay in any military action against Iran. Speaking before a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club, Trump said he was still undecided and waiting to see “whether or not people come to their senses.”

While raising the claim of Iran’s nuclear threat, Trump avoided detailing a potential US response. The Washington Post highlighted that the American President spent the remainder of the day focusing on a myriad of issues, anything but the Iranian question.

He shifted public focus toward domestic issues, including calls for a special prosecutor on the 2020 election and legislative efforts around his “One Big Beautiful Bill.” 

Trump’s indecision has fueled intense internal lobbying from both hawks and anti-interventionists. Among the latter are key MAGA figures like Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk, both of whom recently met with Trump at the White House and advised against military engagement, framing hawkish arguments as manipulative sales tactics.

Bannon openly criticized pro-“Israel” advocates and conservative media for pressuring Trump after having openly accused the Israeli government of attempting to drag the United States into a war with Iran, while Kirk warned of the unpredictable consequences of striking Iran.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a statement directly from Trump, indicating that he would allow a two-week window for negotiations. Trump confirmed the same on the tarmac in New Jersey, saying, “I’m giving them a period of time... and I would say two weeks would be the maximum.”

Though the statement had been drafted before Trump’s lunch with Bannon, the timing underlined the sway of MAGA voices within the administration.

Related News

Rutte: Secondary tariffs on Russia would impact China, India, Brazil

US urges 'Israel' to halt Syria airstrikes, Tel Aviv pledges to stop

Read more: Trump on potential of strikes on Iran: 'I may do it, I may not do it'

Trump skeptical of European de-escalation efforts 

Meanwhile, Friday’s talks in Geneva between Iranian, European, and EU diplomats ended without a breakthrough, as Iran conditioned negotiations on an end to Israeli strikes. Despite this, a White House official told The Washington Post that Trump supported allied diplomatic efforts that could move Iran closer to accepting his terms.

Still, Trump remained skeptical, saying Europe “is not going to be able to help on this one” and insisting that “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us.”

Trump's statements, however, largely contradicted affirmations coming from Iran, which have reiterated Tehran's refusal to resume talks with the US for its complicity in the Israeli aggression. 

Trump again contradicted his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who had assessed earlier this year that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. While insisting that Iran could not acquire nuclear weapons, playing the two-rope game and advocating for diplomacy, and threatening the entirety of Tehran to immediately evacuate, Trump's pro-intervention allies called for a US attack and regime change in Iran.

Republican senators like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz shared similar sentiments, calling for the removal of Iran's current regime. However, Trump’s hesitance signals an unresolved internal conflict between pressure for swift military intervention and his long-standing policy to avoid drawn-out wars.

#US Senator #TedCruz wants regime change in Iran, but can't name its population, gets basic facts wrong, and backtracks live on air. #TuckerCarlson presses him: “You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?”

Cruz then said, “We’re carrying out military… pic.twitter.com/OKITTKDtNc

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 18, 2025

With his special envoy Steve Witkoff continuing indirect contact with Iranian officials, the administration appears to be holding a fragile line between escalation and diplomacy.

Read more: Trump’s Iran dilemma: Strategy or uncertainty?

  • United States
  • Israeli aggression on Iran
  • war on Iran
  • MAGA
  • Israeli aggression
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • Operation True Promise 3
  • Donald Trump
  • Iran
War on Iran

War on Iran

Most Read

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after an Iranian attack at the al Udeid Airbase outside of Doha, Qatar, June 25, 2025 (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Satellite images show Iran attack damaged US comms dome in Qatari base

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
An Israeli soldier abandons an excavator during an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades. Arabic text reads "The moment the soldier fled", July, 10, 2025 (Al Qassam Military Media)

Israeli media rue al-Qassam footage, alarmed by fighters among troops

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

  • Analysis
  • 11 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Syrian government forces deploy at the Mazraa village on the outskirts of city of Sweida, where clashes erupted between Bedouin clans and Druze factions, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gulf-backed negotiations underway in Syria's Sweida to end clashes

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza
Palestine

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza

A damaged car is seen at a field that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Sheet village, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, Wednesday, August 21, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah condemns Israeli Bekaa massacre, urges action from Lebanon

Palestinians walk next to the closed humanitarian aid distribution center of UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime cuts electricity, water supplies to UNRWA Gaza offices

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS