(NewsNation) — As the conflict between Israel and Iran enters its second week, President Donald Trump is meeting with his national security team as he weighs U.S. involvement.
He has been meeting with his team regularly since his early return from the G7 summit amid the military conflict. The president said two weeks would be the maximum amount of time Iran would have to come to the table.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said it could be “a matter of weeks” when it comes to Iran having a nuclear weapon.
Sources told NewsNation that there is conflicting information among intelligence agencies about how quickly Iran could develop a nuclear weapon.
The CIA has said Iran could have a nuclear weapon as soon as weeks or even days, while other intelligence agencies have said the country is still months to a year away from being able to build a nuclear weapon.
Trump told reporters his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is “wrong” when it comes to Iran.
The White House responded to Trump’s remarks on the intelligence team in a post on social platform X, saying Gabbard’s testimony has “consistently backed up” his position and blamed the media for allegedly “twisting and misrepresenting the truth.”
“The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,” Gabbard said. “America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”
Gabbard also posted a video on social media of her congressional testimony to support the claims.
On Thursday, Trump indicated that he would have a decision on whether to strike Iran within the next two weeks, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The president has suggested that he is still open to diplomacy, while also calling for “unconditional surrender” from Iran and reiterating that Iran can not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
“Always a peacemaker. Sometimes you need some toughness to make peace,” Trump said.
When asked what role the U.S. might play, Trump appeared to dispute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Israel is capable of taking out Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“They really have a very limited capacity. They could break through a little sector. But they can’t go down very deep. They don’t have that capacity,” he said. “We’ll have to see what happens. Maybe it won’t be necessary. Maybe it won’t be necessary.”
European diplomats are meeting with Iran’s foreign minister in Switzerland to try to de-escalate the situation, with representatives from Germany, France, Britain and the European Union.
Iran has indicated there is no room for direct talks with the U.S. as long as Israel continues to conduct strikes against the country.
US Carrier en route to the Middle East
NewsNation has confirmed USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier, is still en route to the Middle East. A U.S. official source told NewsNation it would be on location “in the coming days.”
Five guided-missile destroyers are also in the eastern Mediterranean. They include the USS Thomas Hudner, USS Oscar Austin, USS Arleigh Burke, USS Paul Ignatius, and USS The Sullivans, according to a U.S. defense official.