Trump Says He Hasn't Decided on Bigger Iran Strikes, Calls Tehran 'More Serious' as Blockade Widens to Red Sea

What's new since Thursday's defense bill vote

Trump gathered his senior advisers and Cabinet Friday to weigh whether to escalate strikes on Iran, according to The New York Times. No decision was announced. Trump told reporters from the Oval Office Friday evening that he hasn't made up his mind, and that Iran is growing "more serious" in ongoing talks with Washington.

That's a shift in tone from the same day, when The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior administration official, that Trump is questioning diplomacy entirely and is in what the official described as "revenge mode." A person familiar with the matter told the Journal that Trump called Iranian officials "scum" and "crazy" during a recent White House meeting.

Trump laid out two paths Friday: keep the current campaign going, or escalate it "at much higher levels." He said Iran's options are to negotiate, retreat into underground bunkers, or as he put it, "cry uncle."

The blockade now has two choke points

The U.S. military disabled another merchant vessel, the M/T Lavine, in the Gulf of Oman on Friday after the ship tried at least four times to breach the American blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command told Fox News. Forces fired into the vessel's engine room after the crew ignored repeated warnings.

Fox News reported that the Red Sea has now effectively become a second choke point in the conflict alongside the Strait of Hormuz, driving crude oil prices up. Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen after attacks on Saudi-linked vessels, according to Gulf News.

Early Saturday, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence Directorate issued and then quickly lifted "potential danger" alerts for the Jazan and Yanbu governorates, Gulf News reported in its live coverage. Authorities gave no public detail on what triggered either alert or why it was called off within minutes.

Trump's public message: "extremely well"

Speaking at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Friday night at the Waldorf Astoria, Trump told the room the campaign against Iran is "going extremely well" and urged people not to "believe the fake news," according to Gulf News. He claimed Iran has "very few drones left," without offering evidence, and said Tehran has lost significant naval and air capability.

Trump also said he thinks Iran wants a deal but isn't ready yet. "I don't think it's time yet, but I'm willing to listen," he said. Gulf News also reported Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington next week, though the report cut off before further detail on that meeting's purpose.

The nuclear wrinkle nobody's resolved yet

Fox News, citing media reports on U.S. intelligence assessments, said American agencies believe Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is more willing to pursue a nuclear weapon than his late father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, who maintained a religious fatwa against nuclear arms according to Iran International. Separately, The New York Times reported U.S. officials believe Iran has not resumed uranium enrichment, even though Tehran has moved some equipment to the fortified underground site known as Pickaxe Mountain.

Equipment movement without confirmed enrichment restart is not the same as an active weapons sprint, and no source here claims otherwise. Anyone arguing Iran is racing toward a bomb right now is getting ahead of what U.S. intelligence has actually assessed, per the Times.

The military and political pressure building at home

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a Fox News military analyst, said Friday he expects Trump to "go big" in the coming weeks, predicting continued strikes near the Strait of Hormuz and an expanded campaign against Iran's economy. "You need to expand this to impose costs on the regime so that they feel pressure to make either an appropriate deal, or eventually, maybe the regime collapses," Montgomery said.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a combat veteran, urged colleagues to reject the Iran War Powers Resolution, arguing it would undercut troops in the field. "We didn't start this war," Sheehy said. "We did not, but we will finish it." He rejected the "forever war" label, saying it ignores decades of Iranian aggression against Americans.

Sheehy's position is that American forces and citizens have absorbed Iranian-linked attacks for nearly 50 years, and walking away now rewards that pattern. The counter-argument, made forcefully by House Democrats who revolted over the defense bill Thursday, is that Congress never voted to authorize this war and that its costs—in casualties, gas prices, and now a formal blockade stretching into the Red Sea—are mounting without a clear exit.

According to a U.S. official cited by Ynet, some of Trump's own advisers are worried the war is dragging on Republican midterm prospects given rising prices and declining approval ratings. Trump reportedly believed the fight would be over in weeks. It has now stretched well past that, with no resolution date in sight and Netanyahu's Washington visit set for next week as the next concrete marker.