Trump: “Big Decision” Coming on Whether to “Annihilate” Iranian Regime

President Donald Trump told Axios on Thursday that he is approaching a choice on the next phase of the war with Iran: whether to resume large-scale attacks aimed at the regime or hold back. “I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them [the Iranian regime] or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me,” Trump said in a phone interview with Axios reporter Barak Ravid.

He tied the timing to a meeting Tuesday in New York with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. “I want to find out where they are and how they are doing. We have been very protective of them,” he said. Axios reported that any return to major combat operations would need buy-in from those governments. Trump declined to say whether he would decide before or after the Nov. 3 midterms. Asked if he would see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, he said, “I may.”

The war began Feb. 28 and is in its seventh month. In early August, Trump held off on restarting large-scale operations after Saudi Arabia and Qatar warned that Iran could hit Saudi oil and gas facilities in return. Since then the administration has kept a naval blockade on Iranian ports, added sanctions, and focused U.S. forces on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump told Axios he was satisfied with the blockade. “Not one ship has gone to Iran since we started. They tried and we blew them up,” he said. U.S. officials say tanker traffic through the strait has risen from wartime lows but remains below prewar levels, and oil prices remain high. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have ordered U.S. force levels in the region held through the end of the year so units stay ready if full-scale combat resumes. One official told Axios, “At some point, you have to decide what is the endgame.”

Trump has also said Tehran is still in contact and still wants an agreement. Landing in North Carolina on Wednesday, he told reporters, “Hopefully we are towards the end of the war.” “They want to make a deal, and we’ll see how that works out.” Asked if the talks ran through intermediaries, he said, “We deal directly.” Over the weekend he predicted an end “probably right after the midterms,” saying Iran was “trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election” and repeating that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Israel’s Oct. 27 election and the U.S. midterms both sit on the same calendar as any endgame. The White House is drafting a postwar plan built around containing Iran and expanding Israel’s normalization with Arab neighbors. That document is still early. The State Department separately said a restricted Iranian “core delegation,” including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, will be allowed into New York for High-Level Week under host-country rules.

Tuesday’s Gulf meeting is the next public checkpoint. Trump has not said which way he will go.