President Trump says he’s prepared to decide whether to attack Iran within the next 10 days — after deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East.
“We may have to take it a step further, or we may not. Maybe we’re going to make a deal. You are going to be finding out over the next, probably, 10 days,” Trump said Thursday at a meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington.
Trump said that his airstrikes this past June on three Iranian nuclear facilities helped bring stability to the region — as US-partnered Arab nations fear a second strike could have the opposite effect.
President Trump speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AFP via Getty Images“It totally decimated the nuclear potential, and when it did, when it decimated that, all of a sudden we had peace in the Middle East, because there was a black cloud hanging over the Middle East. And if that wasn’t done, that cloud would have been there,” said the president.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One following his speech that “10, 15 days” was “pretty much [the] maximum” timeframe for his decision.
Trump threatened in early January to attack if Iranian authorities violently suppressed anti-regime protests, which the theocracy’s leaders did to the tune of thousands of deaths.
Subsequent talks with Iranian leaders involving Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have focused on Tehran’s nuclear program.
“Now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we’re doing. And if they join us, that’ll be great. If they don’t join us, that’ll be great too, and it’ll be a very different path,” Trump said Thursday.
“They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region. And they must make a deal or if that doesn’t happen … bad things will happen.”
Trump last month ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a supporting strike group into the Arabian Sea — setting the stage for possible strikes — with a second aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, en route to the region.
The Ford is expected to complete its voyage from the Caribbean to the Middle East before the end of February — aligning with Trump’s 10-day timeframe.
Trump has not said who he wants to replace the Islamic Republic’s entrenched leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. KHAMENEI.IR/AFP via Getty ImagesThe crew of a third aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, which is completing training exercises near Virginia, has been told to prepare for possible deployment, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
The US military also has repositioned warplanes in Europe and the Middle East.
Trump said last week that Iran faced a “traumatic” moment if it won’t succumb to his gunboat diplomacy.
He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week to discuss war plans, with Netanyahu urging the targeting of Iran’s longer-range ballistic missiles.
A sailor signals to an F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 31, on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford. USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)Trump has endorsed regime change in Tehran — despite his decades-long attacks on prior US presidents for destabilizing the Middle East with military interventions, including in Iraq.
The president has not said who he wants to replace the Islamic Republic’s entrenched leaders.
He has dismissed exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi as a viable option.






