U.S. President Donald Trump convened his national security team and was briefed on attack options against Iran shortly after announcing he had paused the planned strike, sources said.
Axios reported Thursday, citing two U.S. officials, that Trump convened his security team the previous evening. Trump had said via Truth Social on Wednesday that he had "instructed the military to hold off on the Iran strike planned for the following day at the request of Gulf states." Yet within hours of the announcement, he was reviewing scenarios for resuming the attack.
The meeting was attended by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe and special envoy Steve Witkoff. The meeting included briefings on the status of negotiations as well as on military options, according to the report. Axios analyzed that the fact Trump received a briefing on military action suggests he is seriously considering resuming the strikes.
The behind-the-scenes account of the strike pause announcement was also revealed. U.S. officials said that when Trump announced the pause, no final decision on the strike had actually been made. Officials had initially expected the decision on whether to strike would be made at a national security team meeting scheduled for Thursday, but the meeting was ultimately moved up to Wednesday evening, after Trump's announcement.
Trump's decision to pause the strike was partly influenced by Gulf state leaders conveying concerns about Iranian retaliation against oil facilities in the Gulf region, according to the report. Many U.S. officials were stunned by Trump's decision to pause the strike and feel confused about the direction of future responses, Axios reported.
Within the Trump administration, views on how to deal with Iran are also divided. A U.S. source close to Trump said they had the impression that Trump was trying to apply strong pressure to extract progress in negotiations from Iran. Others predicted that if there is no diplomatic breakthrough, he could once again delay a decision. Trump has claimed that serious negotiations are underway, but a senior U.S. official told Axios that Iran's latest counterproposal does not show clear progress.
