THE WORLD WAITS: All eyes on Trump as he mulls possible US strikes

is there a possibility of next week or sooner that you're some well i don't know how much longer it's going to go on i mean they're totally defenseless they have no air defense whatsoever they've totally captured you know we've totally captured the air brian yeah mr president you've been fairly compassionate towards the iranian people's suggestions

I know a lot of people from Iran, from New York, from Washington, mostly from New York.

They're incredible people.

They're smart.

They're energetic.

They can be difficult, but so can you.

You know, no, they're great people, smart people.

And those people are getting the hell beat out of them now.

And it's really a shame.

It's so stupid.

It's so stupid.

This is another one.

You know, Russia, Ukraine is so stupid.

Would have never happened if I was president.

You guys agree with that, right?

Would have never happened if I was president.

Putin would have never done it.

And I spoke to him yesterday and I said, you know, he actually offered to help mediate.

I said, do me a favor, mediate your own.

Let's mediate Russia first, OK?

I said, Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first.

You can worry about this later.

But I think that's going to work out, too.

But it's so many people have been killed.

The big thing with that one is far more people are dead than have been reported.

in the ukraine russia many many more people a building falls down they say nobody was hurt two very simple words have very simple unconditional surrender that means i've had it okay i've had it i give up no more then we go blow up all the mill you know all the nuclear stuff that's all over the place there

No, they had bad intentions.

You know, for 40 years, they've been saying, death to America, death to Israel, death to anybody else that they didn't like.

They were bullies.

They were schoolyard bullies.

And now they're not bullies anymore, but we'll see what happens.

Look, nothing's finished until it's finished.

You know, war is very complex.

A lot of bad things can happen.

A lot of turns are made.

So I don't know.

I wouldn't say that we won anything yet.

I would say that we sure as hell made a lot of progress.

And we'll see.

The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week, maybe less.

But is there anybody here that said it would be OK to have to have a hostile

very you know zealots really but to have a hostile country have a nuclear weapon that could

destroy 25 miles, but much more than that, could destroy other nations just by the breeze blowing the dust.

You know, that dust blows to other nations and they get decimated.

This is just not a threat you can have.

And we've been threatened by Iran for many years.

And if you go back and look at my history, if you go back 15 years, I was saying we cannot let Iran get a nuclear weapon.

I've been saying it for a long time.

I mean it more now than I ever meant it.

We begin with this Fox News alert.

President Trump speaking from the White House lawn where we are set to see a flag raising at any moment.

He was just asked if he's moving closer to using a bunker-busting bomb to eliminate Iran's nuclear program.

Here he is.

Do humans answer questions about whether you are moving closer or you believe the U.S. is moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities?

Where's your mindset on that?

I can't say that, right?

I may do it.

I may not do it.

I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.

I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate.

Two very simple words, a very simple, unconditional surrender.

That means I've had it.

OK, I've had it.

I give up.

No more.

I'm Harris Faulkner.

You are in the Faulkner Focus.

The president knows the moment we are in as a nation, as an ally of Israel who is systematically doing the world a favor by battering Iranian military and nuclear sites.

And President Trump is putting America first with his actions as he always does.

In fact, today on full display is patriotism at the White House.

We are at the ready for any movement there on a very special day for the president of

WHO HAS BEEN MANNING THAT CONSTRUCTION TEAM THIS MORNING THAT'S COMING UP WITH THAT.

THE PRESIDENT IS REPORTEDLY SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING JOINING ISRAEL'S BOMBARDMENT OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES.

YOU JUST HEARD HIM SAY NO ONE

But it is fully his decision.

The stakes are high for the United States.

Our military could take out a key Iranian nuclear site buried deep into a mountain.

And that decision carries some political risk as well.

At the same time, Iran's supreme leader is showing no signs of backing down.

The Iranian nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition.

The Zionist enemy has made a big mistake, committed a big crime and must be punished and is being punished.

The damage America will suffer if it makes a military intervention in this field will undoubtedly be irreparable.

And in the capital city, Tehran, the streets are quiet and empty.

After the president and Israel warned residents to evacuate, they listened.

One Associated Press journalist said they only saw a handful of pedestrians in the city.

Here's General Jack Keane.

And if we walk away and leave those sites intact, then the Ayatollah will be able to achieve what he's always wanted here, assist the Israelis in their air campaign using penetration bombing to eliminate the end of that nuclear end state.

And that will be a major strategic achievement.

However, one Trump administration official is telling Politico that no one the West Wing is talking about or in the West Wing is talking about regime change.

Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy with more now.

Peter, we have seen the president this morning on the lawn as they get ready to erect not one but two flags.

outside the White House.

Yes, and that'll be the excitement for the morning.

But the president revealed that the next week concerning Iran could be very big, as he told us that some Iranian leaders could actually come here to the White House.

Have the Iranians reached out to you?

Yes.

And what did they say?

I said it's very late, you know?

I said, it's very late to be talking.

They even suggested they come to the White House.

It's a big difference.

But they've suggested that they come to the White House.

That's, you know...

courageous.

But the president is in no rush to get the Iranians here because he revealed he told Bibi Netanyahu to keep going with the strikes inside Iran.

President Trump will not reveal his current thinking about striking nuclear targets, and his defense secretary was just asked about possible strike packages.

My question for you is whether you have been asked actively to provide options for the president regarding a strike in the Middle East.

If I had or I had not, I wouldn't disclose that in this forum, Senator.

My job, our job, the chairman and I, at all times, is to make sure the president has options and is informed of what those options might be and what the ramifications of those options are.

And the president was asked what his message is for Iran's supreme leader, who is refusing the unconditional surrender the president wants.

The president sent his message to the Ayatollah.

Good luck, Harris.

All right, Peter Doocy, thank you.

A new op-ed titled, Why U.S. Must Destroy Iran's Fordow Nuclear Facility Now.

And the argument is, Fordow is not just another enrichment site, it is a fortified monument to Iran's deception and determination.

The U.S. alone has the tools and the reach to destroy it.

This mission, if undertaken, must be precise, overwhelming, and independently verified.

History will judge our resolve.

Let it be said that when the mountain hid the bomb, America shattered the mountain and proved it.

BRETT VILIKOVICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS SOLDIER AND FORMER MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

ALL RIGHT, LET'S START WITH FORDOW.

NOT JUST THE IMPORTANCE OF IT, BUT WHAT'S THERE, THE STRUCTURALLY THAT ONLY WE CAN TAKE OUT.

Well, structurally, Harris, it's one of the most difficult sites to penetrate.

And so that's why likely the Israelis are asking for U.S. help.

And I think, frankly, we need to do what we can to bomb the Iranians back to the negotiation table.

Iran's hardliners need to be bombed back to the nuclear negotiation table and

There's a limited time for Israel to do this quickly because doing nothing carries its own risk.

If we don't use this opportunity to help them destroy that last remaining nuclear facility now while they're on the run, we may find them able to reconstitute their program, their nuclear ambitions, quickly after the smoke clears.

And I hope the president understands that.

And this whole debate about if it drags us into this larger war or not, listen, Iran already sees us as complicit.

No matter what we do or don't do now, they will attempt to target U.S. interests in the future, whether U.S. assets strike them now or not.

That's the bottom line.

They've been at war with us for decades, even when we have not been at war with them.

I mean, myself and other U.S. soldiers were deployed in Iraq to hunt ISIS and al Qaeda, not Iran.

But yet we found ourselves on the receiving end of weekly Iranian attacks.

I was nearly killed by Iranian bombs.

I've had close friends killed by Iranians.

Many U.S. veterans are missing limbs because of Iranian bombs.

And many of our bases now for years continue to be attacked.

And we're the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world, Harris.

This is one of those moments, I think, in history where we need to stand up for what's right, be on the right side of history, and it's time to help free the Iranian people.

the majority of which has been oppressed for too long.

And this is about wanting regime change, by the way.

It's not just about nuclear weapons.

I know people are saying they're not looking for regime change, but we're not going to be able to change that regime.

That's the bottom line.

Only the Iranian people can change that regime.

But what we can do is give them the opportunity through military action to rise up and do something about it.

Just real quickly, I want to know about assessing this particular enemy.

And you just gave us a lot of information and close calls and deaths, of course, of some of our military heroes along the way at the hands of Iran.

What is it that happens globally, though, as the world looks at us and they're reaching out, the president's getting really tough?

I mean, is there a stall that has to happen now in order to get this done?

Or do you think Iran's just not even serious when it says it wants to talk to President Trump?

The Iranians are generally all talk.

They are masters at manipulating speech.

You're not going to out-talk or out-speak an Iranian.

It's in their culture.

They're masters at manipulating their words.

But what we can do is more than talk.

We can actually do action and execution because talk in that region, it doesn't work.

It's only a region that understands strength.

And I don't think

there needs to be this long-term Israeli military campaign.

The Israelis just decapitated nearly Iran's entire military chain of command.

I don't think we have to worry about that, this long protracted campaign, because I'm not even sure what that would even accomplish at this point because there's barely anyone left at their leadership level to kill.

I mean, yesterday, Iran's new chief of staff of the military was killed.

He held the position for only four days.

Israeli spies have infiltrated nearly every part of that regime.

Mossad spies are inside Iran targeting leadership in their homes, and they've got the mullahs on the run.

So we need to do whatever we can to help them reestablish deterrence, help them strike facilities.

If they can't get to certain facilities, let's help them do that, and let's do it at a time when there's just not much time to finish this, and we should help them with whatever we can.

Yeah.

So, Brett, a lot of concern about what happens.

You say regime change in the end.

Well, who does fill in?

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, had this to say about the Iranian regime.

Watch.

Do you believe that this Iranian regime can be toppled?

Absolutely.

It's just a matter of time.

I believe that for 44 years.

It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

But now we have a tremendous opportunity.

Your thoughts, your reaction.

The problem and the mischief that we're seeing in Iran and around the world is not coming from the majority moderate Iranians or the Iranian people.

The truth is Iran and its people have the potential of being one of the biggest strategic allies to us in the region.

The majority of the people want peace.

The majority of people want a relationship with the West.

The majority want to connect with the rest of the world.

But they've been oppressed for decades, and it's time for them to take over.

We are not going to create regime change in military action.

It has to be the Iranian people.

And hopefully we're giving them the time and space to do that.

One more thing, and it has to do with what we don't know about Iran right now.

So they've got, you know, potentially their most precious nuclear program protected inside that mountain, Fordow, so that if everything else gets hit, they're hoping, well, they can still go forward with a nuclear program.

But what do they have that potentially we don't,

know about?

I mean, they've been on the ground with Mossad.

Israel has.

We think they've been flipping assets to a great degree.

We know that they have.

But what gives them any sort of ground right now to say the words to President Trump that, you know, the worst is yet to come?

Basically, I'm paraphrasing them.

I think it's all talk, and I think it's Persian pride in the end.

I think that the Israelis have been doing an amazing job at being able to make Iran essentially defenseless.

At this point, you heard the president talk about us owning their airspace, and that's the reality on the ground.

And the Iranian regime and the Ayatollah, they need to understand that reality, and they need to come back to the nuclear negotiation table, or it's only going to get worse for them.

Brett Velikovich, you have filled in a lot of blanks.

I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Right now, overhead, you can see some of these interceptions taking place.

My cameraman's going to pan up here, and you're going to see those white streaks in the sky.

That is a successful interception.

It's a little bit difficult to see, given the fire and the sunlight at this moment, but we're just going to come off the sticks here, and we're going to walk.

Just give us one moment.

Good to wait?

Okay.

As we just mentioned, this was happening in Tel Aviv moments ago where sirens had just sounded off.

Trey Yanks right in the middle of all of it on the ground in Tel Aviv for us.

What's the latest from there?

Hi, Trey.

Yes, Sandra, as the president started that ceremony, the Iranians were launching ballistic missiles into Israel.

This came after another barrage last night of around 30 missiles targeting major population centers.

The vast majority of them were intercepted by advanced air defense systems.

Here's what the scene was like last night amid that incoming fire.

Right now, there are ballistic missiles being fired at Israel's second largest city of Tel Aviv.

Currently, missile defense systems are working to shoot down the incoming fire.

We are going to take some cover here as this unfolds.

You can see in the distance interceptor rounds coming off, trying to shoot down.

Pull it off the tripod.

And let's move inside.

The flash there in the sky, explosions overhead.

And again, this is the third barrage.

These barrages are getting smaller, prompting Israel's home front command to reduce restrictions for civilians here.

Work will resume for businesses that have shelters, but schools will remain closed.

As the war enters its sixth day, Iran's supreme leader made his first televised remarks since the new conflict began, directly contradicting President Trump's calls for an unconditional surrender.

The Iranian nation stands firm against the imposed war.

As it has stood so far and stands firm against the imposed peace, the Iranian nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition.

With no end in sight, Israel is ramping up airstrikes against Iran, targeting dozens of new positions overnight.

Fox News has learned new details about a strike earlier this week that took out IRGC Major General Ali Shadmani.

An Israeli official says that on Monday night, a secret command center located in the mountains outside of Tehran was targeted.

killing dozens of IRGC operatives.

Among them were several senior commanders who fled from the location to another hideout in Tehran.

This source says the commanders were tracked to the new location and then taken out.

It has been described to us as an effort to hunt down these IRGC officials.

As the question remains, will the United States get more directly involved in this conflict?

Sandra.

All right, Trey Yanks live in Tel Aviv for us.

Trey, thank you very much.

We'll see you again soon.

All right, Sandra, back to Israel now.

Ron Dermer is the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, now serves as Israel's Minister of Strategic Affairs.

Mr.

Ambassador, thanks so much for joining us.

We really appreciate it.

So the Ayatollah is talking tough a little while ago, dismissing President Trump's demands for unconditional surrender.

This was the word out of Tehran.

The Iranian nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition.

The Zionist enemy has made a big mistake, committed a big crime and must be punished and is being punished.

The damage America will suffer if it makes a military intervention in this field will undoubtedly be irreparable.

So he's talking tough and it takes me back more than 20 years when Saddam Hussein was talking tough as well, right up until his regime collapsed.

Yeah, I think that's right.

And I also would say that I don't think the Supreme Leader speaks for the people of Iran.

I think 70, 80 percent of the people of Iran hate him, hate the regime.

This regime has been at war with countries throughout the region, has been at war with the United States since it came to being in 1979 when it took over that American embassy and took people hostage, Americans hostage, for 444 days.

When they had their proxy, Hezbollah, bomb the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, when they attacked

U.S. embassies in Africa.

And probably the biggest price was when they had their militias put all those IEDs under the vehicles to bomb your service men and women who were fighting in Iraq.

And there's a lot of people who have been maimed and killed because of the orders of that man that you just saw on the screen.

So I don't think that President Trump is going to take his threat seriously.

And I think President Trump has been very clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, period.

And I think he means what he says.

But the one thing that he's playing his cards very close to his vest on is whether or not the United States joins with Israel in hitting some strategic sites from the air.

This is what the Wall Street Journal editorial board published today on that front.

They say, quote, if the U.S. won't help one of its strongest and most loyal allies finish the job.

of eliminating Iran's nuclear threat in uncontested airspace.

The message to China will be that there is no chance the U.S. will defend Taiwan.

Everyone will see it, from the Kremlin's commissars to the communist bosses in Beidaiha.

I know that Israel is not going to outright ask publicly for U.S. help in this, but would U.S. assistance be of value to you?

Look, that's an American decision, John.

And you said that the president likes to keep his cars close to his vest.

That's exactly what a president should do.

And I think he wants to keep all his options open.

So I think you'll just have to hear from him what he wants to do.

I think he's going to do what he believes is in the American interest.

That's what he was elected to do.

And that's what he'll do.

And I think he understands.

that America is an enemy of Iran.

You know, they call Israel the little Satan.

They call America the great Satan.

These guys in Iran, they ordered a hit on the president of the United States, on President Trump.

So I don't think he's going to be scared by the leader of Tehran and what he says, the leader of Iran.

And as I said again, look,

America is not at war with the people of Iran.

Israel is not at war with the people of Iran.

We've had a great relationship with the people of Iran before this regime came to power in 1979.

And we can have a great relationship, and so will the American people, with the people of Iran after this regime goes into the dustbin of history.

But that's ultimately going to be up to the Iranian people to do, not Israel, not America, not anybody else.

All right.

So you have degraded to a large degree Iran's capabilities to enrich uranium.

But the one facility left standing, we believe untouched at this point, is the big Fordo enrichment facility that can enrich at this point Iran, Iranian uranium up to about 60 percent.

It's not too far from there to 90 percent, which is weapons grade.

The United States really could help out with those massive ordnance penetrators to get to those big centrifuge halls buried deep beneath the mountain.

But the question is, could Iran do it?

Sorry, I mean, could Israel do it on its own?

Earlier today, we had Dan Senor, a man that you know well, on our air.

Here's what he said about Israel's possibility of taking out Fordow.

They say they have capabilities to do Fordow.

The Americans, the U.S. definitely has the capacity to do Fordow.

I think Israel's capabilities are probably there, but they will be messy and they will take longer.

And I think the U.S., if the U.S. participate in some way, would be a much cleaner shot.

So does Israel have a contingency with Fordo if America does not weigh in?

Well, what I would say, John, I'm not going to discuss an operational issue, but I think at this point, after what we've seen Israel do with our pilots in the last few days in Iran and what we saw Israel do to Hezbollah a few months ago, nobody should underestimate the capabilities of Israel.

We have set out on a mission.

The prime minister made the goals of this war very clear.

We're going to make sure they're going to remove the threat of Iran's military nuclear capability.

And we're going to make sure that we remove the threat of their ballistic missile capability, those giant missiles that they're firing into our civilian population centers.

On the nuclear side, we took out the Natanz site.

We took out the conversion site in Isfahan.

We've taken out R&D sites, centrifuge manufacturing sites.

And in the first minutes of this battle,

We took out the top scientists in Iran, those who were working on the Iranian equivalent of the Manhattan Project, where they were going to build an Iranian bomb.

And for us, we have a regime in Iran that openly calls and actively works to destroy the state of Israel.

So when people are telling you that they're going to destroy you, don't give them the weapons to achieve that goal.

That's what we did on the nuclear side.

On the ballistic missile side, our pilots are working to degrade those capabilities.

We're taking out launchers.

Sort of we've got drones in the air hunting them down to make sure that you have fewer and fewer missiles being fired at us to diminish their capabilities.

But we're also dealing with the manufacturing capabilities of those missiles.

And those missiles are not just pointed at Israel.

They can be pointed at Europe and even beyond Europe.

And they're trying to get greater and greater range of those missiles.

And that manufacturing capability also deals with the short range missiles that affects all of our Arab neighbors in the region.

So, you know, John, you know, you've interviewed a lot of people in the region over the years.

And believe me, whatever they're saying publicly, our Arab neighbors are rejoicing at what is happening in Tehran because they want us to succeed.

They want Israel to succeed.

They may not say publicly, but they are definitely saying it privately.

I mean, yes, certainly we've seen public sentiments, but we know that there are private sentiments that sometimes are 180 degrees opposite to what they're saying in public.

Ambassador Dermer, thank you so much for kicking us off today.

Really appreciate your time, sir.

We know you're very busy.

Thank you.

All right.

I just want to make everyone aware because we are watching this, but we are also watching, obviously, the other huge story today, which is what happens next from the White House with regard to Iran.

So we're going to keep an eye on this situation in Denham.

But I want to go back to the Iran situation because President Trump has just made news in the Oval Office.

He has made comments and we are awaiting that sound.

We're going to play it for you as soon as it turns around.

And I want to bring in retired four-star General Jack Keane, Fox News senior strategic analyst, former vice chief of staff of the Army and chairman of the Institute for the Study of War.

So, General, as I mentioned, as soon as we get these comments from the president, we will turn those around.

But your thoughts on where we stand right now as we wait for President Trump to make this decision about a potential strike on Fordow in Iran, the nuclear facility?

Yeah, I mean, the decision really surrounds the fact that if Fordow stands and is not destroyed by the Israelis or its capacity much taken down, then the simple fact is Iran still has the capability to build a nuclear weapon.

So that is really the issue here.

And, you know, for the audience to understand,

Iran built this very huge, complex nuclear enterprise with redundancy and resiliency at 12 different sites.

So no one site by itself

would eliminate the program.

And the program overall is fundamentally designed from the outset to survive an attack on the program.

What the Israelis are doing right now, they built into the program that kind of ability

to absorb the attack, to survive that attack, to recover and to rebuild.

And it's why the Ayatollah, Martha, in the negotiations with the Trump administration, why his negotiating team would never come to the table and say we will voluntarily dismantle.

Why is that?

Because then he gives up the program with verification.

He always believed that he can recover and rebuild despite the Israeli attack.

And then there's this one site that he has.

He knows that the Israelis likely cannot take it down, and he hopes that this will survive.

That's kind of where we are.

And the United States is pursuing it for the obvious reason that the president is committed to it,

But also it sends a strong signal to our allies that this is our closest ally in the region.

They need help.

We're going to help them.

And what does it send a message to our adversaries?

Much the same.

Absolutely.

It helps to build deterrence with them.

I want to ask you about the message to China and Russia because I think it's so important in this story at this point.

But first of all, just going back, I mean, you know, we...

Give us your sense of confidence that this bunker buster bomb would be successful in disabling Fordow.

Yeah, this is a challenging target.

And certainly the people involved in this know this in spades.

We've been looking at Fordow, you know, for years.

The bunker buster, as you're describing it, was fundamentally designed to go deep, but in a building-like structure with cement that's being reinforced.

We're going deep into a mountain structure and what has considerable amount of rock in it.

And because it's rock and not a cement structure, I'm not an engineer, but engineers have advised me on it.

What happens is it dissipates some of the blast effect because it's rock and it's not solid in a way that a cement structure would and could focus the blast much more and be considerably more destructive.

So it's not without its challenges in dealing with this, and that doesn't mean it couldn't be multiple bombs put on this target to bring it to that level of construction.

If you really wanted a guarantee to destroy it, I mean, you could conduct a raid on it,

and then physically secure the site and dismantle and blow the thing up.

I mean, the Israelis certainly may have a plan to do just that if the United States is not gonna help them.

Obviously, there's considerably more risk with troops on the ground, insert them, be able to get them out.

How much time does it take to do the damage?

Lot more risk involved than an operation associated with that.

The Israelis also,

may have already, and if they haven't, when it comes to Ferdow, they can't go deep and blow it up, but they should be able to take out the power grid that supports it and the ventilation system that supports it.

They did damage like that to Natanz back in 2020.

It was one of their COVID operations.

They don't talk about it, but it's been out in the public since.

So there are options that the Israelis have, but none of those options

are as good as the option that we have.

And certainly I think that's the most favored option.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you for that assessment.

I don't know if we have the sound bite of President Trump control room talking about Putin.

But let me know if we have this.

But I want to ask the general, when you look at the posture right now of Russia and China as they watch this.

All right.

We now have the sound from President Trump.

Stand by, General, if you would.

Thank you very much.

Let's listen in.

So, do you have any questions, please?

The Press Do you have the latest on the evacuations out of Israel, Mr. President?

Have you been updated on that?

The President No, we're having a meeting in an hour.

We have a meeting downstairs in one hour.

Yeah.

The Press Mr. President, on Iran, if regime change does happen there, if the regime falls, do you have a plan for what you think would happen there?

The President I have a plan for everything, but we'll see what happens.

I've got a ways to go.

They should have — look, they should have made the deal.

I had a great deal for them.

They should have made that deal.

Sixty days, we talked about it.

In the end, they decided not to do it, and now they wish they did it.

And they want to meet, but it's, you know, it's a little late to meet, but they want to meet.

And they want to come to the White House.

They'll even come to the White House.

So we'll see.

I may do that.

But it's a shame it wasn't — could have been done the easy way.

The Press Do you think regime there could fall?

The President Sure.

Anything could happen, right?

All right.

We hear President Trump saying they're going to meet again downstairs in an hour.

I assume that means likely in the Situation Room as they continue this.

He was asked about regime change, which obviously is a huge issue here.

It's not something that, you know, there are other things that have to happen, obviously, before that, General.

And what about this suggestion that the Iranians keep shooting down, but President Trump keeps confirming that they have reached out and said that they do want to meet?

Well, of course the Iranians want to meet.

I mean, they want to do anything they can to put off what the whole world is looking at, Martha.

And let's face facts.

The Iranians will come to that meeting, I am absolutely convinced, with the same mindset I just described.

And that is, they believe they have the capacity to absorb an attack, survive it, recover and rebuild.

And they are not going to voluntarily dismantle the program, which would mean the end of it.

unless they have a secret site that we're not aware of that has enriched uranium centrifuges and they can still build the bomb.

That is the one unknown.

But we don't have any evidence of that as of now.

So I don't think the administration will fall

for the line that let's stop everything and go to negotiations, given what a dismal failure these negotiations have been for weeks as the Iranians maintain the hard line.

We're not going to voluntarily dismantle.

Not only that, we want to continue to have enrichment capability.

And I don't see them changing that.

And if they're coming to negotiations, it's just a ploy to put off the inevitable.

I mean, there's not much they have left in their arsenal.

I mean, this promise to their regime that they are building this nuclear weapon is the main thing that they hang on to in terms of power.

So it makes perfect sense that it would be something that they can't let go of because I'm not sure what they have left.

They have no economy.

They've used all the money that they have to support these various –

proxy groups who have also been decimated by Israel.

Speak to the isolation at this point as you assess it at the study of war for Khomeini right now.

Well, you put your finger right on it, Martha.

The basic reason to have the nuclear weapon is to preserve the regime.

That's reason one.

The second reason is obviously the destruction of Israel and also is use it as political leverage in the region to achieve dominance even more than what they have with their proxies.

over the Arab states and the rest of it.

And obviously the Arab states would have to enter into a nuclear arms race and makes this whole area so much more volatile because then you have a potential for an exchange of nuclear weapons, something we've never, ever had.

So yes, primary reason is preservation of the regime.

And that is why they're holding on to this thing as long as they can.

But look it.

Let's assume the nuclear goes away and they'll still want to rebuild at some point and recover, certainly.

But they're also going to be very weakened politically internally as a result of this.

You know, the people have been fed up with this regime for a long time.

But now even some of the people that are close to the regime, Martha, I mean, in the first 12 hours, they lost all of their air defense capability.

That means fighter jets for the last five days have been flying day and night over Iran.

The psychological and emotional impact of something like that is stunning.

And the second thing is they lose their nuclear program.

They lose the leaders of the program.

They lose the leaders of their military.

And finally, they lose the one offensive power that they really do have.

And it's coming to an end.

And that is their ballistic missile program.

So they sit there.

Weak politically, weak economically and weak militarily as a result of what has taken place.

And are they vulnerable from internal regime change as a result of that?

You betcha.

In a way that they have never been in 45 years.

It's an absolutely stunning situation that you don't see these proxies coming to their defense, that you don't see Russia coming to their defense.

You basically hear it's as quiet as a mouse all around the region, as I think most players feel like they wouldn't be unhappy at all to see this regime fall.

General, they talk about a surprise weapon.

They keep saying in Iran, you know, oh, wait till you see what we have coming down the pipeline in a couple of days.

What's your reaction to that before we go, sir?

I have no idea what they're talking about.

And I'm not the least bit intimidated by it, and I don't think the Israelis are, and certainly the United States government.

But the point that you just made is crucial.

They created Hezbollah as a military force and a terrorist organization.

They armed it to the teeth.

They provided 150,000 rockets and missiles.

The principal reason, job one for Hezbollah was to defend Iran from Israel in the event of a war.

Hezbollah has not fired a single shot, but they have thousands of weapons still.

Why aren't they doing that?

They decapitated their leadership.

Israel has broken their will right in front of us.

No response whatsoever.

That is absolutely amazing achievement that what we have seen.

It's extraordinary.

And think about this as such a moment of consequence in history that we have been on the brink of.

And now it is such an opportunity that exists that I think is felt all around the region.

And, General, thank you so much.

I'm so glad that you're with us today.

We look forward to speaking with you in the days to come as history continues to unfold here.

Thank you so much, General.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, thank you for being here.

Great job with the breaking news.

Take care.

Thanks, General.

Thank you.

Let's get some quick reaction from Emily on the Karen Reid verdict.

All right, guys, this was a textbook illustration of how to nail it the second time around.

So essentially, defense came in swinging because it was a second trial, right?

Like surgery.

Here's what they did.

They targeted reasonable doubt through all of that missing text messages, all of the digital evidence that was missing.

They came in and said, look, we are turning this spoliation of evidence into something not right here.

And that's the thing.

The jurors didn't need to believe that there was this big orchestrated

effort or event.

They just needed to believe that something wasn't right with all of those law enforcement officers that were concealing texts, missing texts, destroying texts, per the defense, right?

And they used reverse narrative to their benefit.

So they painted the defendant saying she's the patsy.

She's the one that's getting framed here.

Right.

Victim over and over again.

John O'Keefe be damned, essentially.

And then they repeated undermining the chain of custody and the scene integrity.

Why was his body moved?

Look, this is asking so many questions that they didn't have answers to.

And they didn't present them as just sloppy mistakes.

They presented them as a sort of intentional concealment of evidence.

And then finally, they weaponized the arrogance that they framed for all of those protesters that you saw that raised a million dollars on her behalf, that hung on every word of the documentary, that traveled by states to watch this, right?

They said, look at this.

These guys think they're pulling one over on all of you.

And that's why they nailed it.

So she's their OJ.

Basically.

All right.

And she might have been innocent.

And Gutfeld will have the whole hour tonight.

Stay tuned.

Live.

All right.

Thank you, guys.

But let's talk about the big story we're following here.

President Trump still mulling a U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear sites, but teased he's opened a meeting with the mullahs at the White House.

I have a plan for everything, but we'll see what happens.

Got a ways to go.

They should have, look, they should have made the deal.

I had a great deal for them.

They decided not to do it, and now they wish they did it.

And they want to meet, but it's a little late to meet.

I don't want to get involved either, but I've been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

I've been saying it for a long time.

You may have to fight, and maybe it'll end, and maybe it'll end very quickly.

But there's no way that you can allow, whether you have to fight or not, you can allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon because the entire world will blow up.

I'm not going to let that happen.

Katie, have you ever seen a president keep his options so open for so long?

He is keeping options open, but the one thing he's made very clear throughout all of this is that the Iranian nuclear program is going away.

It is not staying.

He said today that it's going to either go away by us bombing it when they surrender or bombing it if they don't surrender.

So this program is going away.

It's just a matter of how they decide to do this.

The timeline is that the Israelis say if the US were to get involved with the bombing campaign, they could be done with this in a week.

which the president has said he wants things to be done quickly.

He doesn't want these things to drag out.

He's consistent with that.

He has a track record in his first term of doing these strikes that are very significant, targeted, and getting out of the way.

Soleimani, he did this with the Houthis, he did this with ISIS.

There's no reason to stick around and wait it out.

He is in another meeting today with his national security team, and all options are on the table.

But if you listen to what he's saying, it's very clear that this is going in the direction of Iran's nuclear programs going away for the better of the United States of America and for the region.

I think it's very interesting that you've heard a lot about, well, we don't want this to devolve into a broader war in the region.

The region's not saying anything.

The Saudis are happy with this.

The Jordanians are happy with this.

The UAE is happy with this.

And if you look at the images that you see of these people sending in video from Lebanon, from Jordan, from UAE, seeing these missiles flying through the sky, the only people sending those are the Iranians, and they don't want them to be the target next.

So the program's going away.

It's just a matter of when and how.

Harold, does the president have the support of the Democrats in the Senate and in Congress for a strike against this nuclear facility?

I hope so.

But let me go back because I think your question is the right one.

I would broaden it out.

I think to Katie's point, it's going to be back around the table with everybody.

I think the question that the president who's grappling with the most consequential decision that he's ever had to make, I think, in his life.

certainly as president the first term and certainly up to this point, and I can't imagine a more consequential one for the next three years.

I think the president's asking the question, what if we don't act?

in light of all that the Israelis have done in really softening and diminishing the military power, the Air Force, the Navy, the Army, their ability to launch rockets at Israel, and for that matter, anywhere in the region.

And they've done a lot.

The president took an oath of office, everyone does, to protect and defend the Constitution and the country, regardless of whom the president is.

Not your campaign dogma, not your campaign platform, not your rally speeches.

And this is where it gets really tough.

Two, I hope the president's applying the POW doctrine to this, Jesse, which the late Secretary of Defense and late Joint Chiefs of Staff asked a couple of questions.

He asked, do we have a vital security interest?

We do.

They say that to America.

Do we have a clear attainable objective?

Katie laid it out well.

I think the president has laid it out.

We want to undermine and neutralize this nuclear capacity of theirs and their ability to launch missiles.

Three, do we have an exit strategy?

And have we considered the consequences of what may happen?

I'm confident the president and his team are doing that.

And this gets to the last point.

Are the American people in support?

Which is what your question contemplates, not just Democrats.

It appears as we sit here tonight, the president's facing more opposition from Republicans and perhaps some in the MAGA community than he is anywhere else.

I hope if the president decides to do something, whatever that might be, and I support him,

that he comes before the country at the appropriate time and lays out for us why he's doing it, what we're doing, and how we're going to get out of it.

And finally, the Israelis have done a lot.

If they had not done all they have done up to this point, I may not be as in favor of going after the nuclear facility as I am.

What they've done over the last year, particularly the last six months, has been nothing short of astonishing.

So whatever the president decides to do, I hope the country supports him, but he's going to have to lay out clearly, convincingly,

and forcefully while we're doing it.

Do you believe, Emily, the president's done a good job explaining to the American people the stakes?

Well, I think he's done a good job explaining to the American people that he's protecting American interests.

And he's staying true to why we voted for him, which was peace through strength, with the end result of including not ditching our allies and always holding American interests first.

And that's why, you know, to those saying that it's not America first to not even take out Fordow,

Look, number one, it removes a direct time sensitive threat to the U.S.

It's a hell of a lot cheaper than the trickle, you know, sort of policy that Biden had.

Oh, here's a little bit of material support over years and years or the wait and see approach of him, the Dems, which includes, by the way, the priceless toll of the 603 Americans that have died at the hands of the Islamic regime.

And for those worried about mission creep.

That's this.

That's what this would stop, right?

This is strength without spread.

And the biggest result is deterrence.

Mess with the bull, you get the horns.

That's what message he's been clear on.

And that's why people voted for him.

And side note, I have many friends in Tel Aviv right now.

Katie, I know you do, too.

One of them, a missile hit the building 80 feet away from his apartment while he was in the shelter.

It destroyed the entire block.

Somehow his apartment was OK because it was protected by the buildings.

He said, we're experiencing what we've never experienced before.

But he said, but it's necessary to finish the job and destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran.

That is someone that understands the message, understands patriotism, and understands an existential crisis that they're facing.

How do you see it, Greg?

Many different ways, Jessie.

I'm glad you asked.

First of all, I'm always surprised that people that are so against trade wars are more open to real wars.

Don't you find that kind of like the people that are against trade wars, they always talk about the blowback of a trade war.

We talk about it forever.

But with real wars, we don't.

We don't even know what's next after we decide to do this.

And we often don't.

That's why we ended up with Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is a lot of blowback.

At least with trade wars, you can turn off the spigot.

You can go back in time and stop it.

About the America First thing, that was why Trump was elected.

But it's not like he isn't being America first already.

It's like been 150 days.

We've seen, look at the border, no crossings, no releases, workers wages are up, pare down regulations, increased industry, redefining military readiness and priorities.

So he didn't just walk in and say, you know what I'm gonna do first?

Bomb the goats out of Iran.

So the idea, this is what bugs me about the people that are screaming about Trump being hawkish.

The idea that he somehow fell under the spell of Lindsey Graham, it's divorced from context.

The guy is doing America first every single day.

So maybe this might not be a contradiction.

In his mind, it might logically make sense in the Trump universe, but that's only if Iran is a true threat.

And that's where the question is.

In a way, Iran is like an unstable teenager who posts online about wanting to shoot up a school.

You know, when do you take their threats and capabilities seriously?

Like, you know, do you know what his capabilities are?

Does this kid have guns at home?

We don't know.

So you have to weigh the cost.

It's like what Harold said, that the cost of inaction is inaction.

It's inaction.

So America first has two lanes.

America first, and what are the options in the Middle East that are best for American interests?

So they kind of cross.

And then going back to what you said when you asked Katie, we elected Trump for his instincts and his guts, his gut instinct.

And, you know, maybe he knows a way to defend our staunchest ally without sacrificing our sons.

And he doesn't do things that he thinks will end badly.

That's one thing we know.

He jumps in when he sees a path and he senses, I think he senses Israel has done the work.

And I think that's another thing that he respects Israel for is that they always do the work.

He likes winners.

And I think he sees this event, Israel, as a winning bet.

I think you're right.

But in fairness, I think you're right.

Without Israel having done all the work up to this point, I think a lot of people would not be as open-minded to this.

And remember, they support Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

It's not just a kid at home putting stuff up on social media.

They have done not only on social media, they've acted on some of it through their proxies.

It's a tough decision.

It was a rough analogy, Harold.

It wasn't the real thing.

Don't nitpick the analogies, Harold.

My goodness.

Come on.

I'm done here.

Let me write that down.

I have things to do.

And you can argue you can take Israel completely out of it, and it's about U.S. interests.

I want to make an analogy about Karen Reid.

Okay, and Greg will have Karen Reid the whole hour.

Again, no commercials the whole hour.

Up next.

Don't go driving with her.

Arnold stuns the ladies of The View after terminating anti-ICE talking point.

Senior White House correspondent Jackie Heinrich starts us off tonight live from the North Lawn.

Good evening, Jackie.

Good evening, Brett.

The president is giving Iran every chance for an off-ramp while also readying his options.

And he told his supporters, leery of another protracted war in the Middle East, that he doesn't want that either.

He only wants one thing for Iran not to have a nuclear weapon.

I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final.

I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, you know, because things change.

I mean, especially with war, things change.

President Trump calling reporters into the Oval Office to reveal an upcoming huddle in the Situation Room, broadcasting his moves in an apparent effort to allow room for diplomacy.

I'd like to see everything done.

I would have preferred having...

It's just an agreement, a strong agreement, a verifiable agreement.

And maybe that could still happen, I guess.

They do want to come and see us.

They want to see me in the White House.

That's a big statement.

But it's very late.

Iran denied that, its mission to the UN posting, no Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House.

The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to take out Iran's supreme leader.

Iran does not negotiate under duress, shall not accept peace under duress.

While the president says he hasn't decided his next move, he's firm on what he will and won't accept, despite the divide within his base after campaigning against foreign wars.

I don't want to get involved either, but I've been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

And I think they were a few weeks away from having one.

New Fox polls show 73% of registered voters believe Iran poses a real threat to US national security, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

But there's less unanimity on Israel's strikes against Iran's nuclear programs.

49% approve, 46% disapprove.

Although Republicans are more than twice as likely to support the strikes, some loud voices and longtime allies within the president's orbit have voiced their disagreement, the president telling them to show themselves the door.

My supporters are for me.

My supporters are America first.

They make America great again.

My supporters don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon.

If they think that it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, then they should oppose me.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to mediate, the president says he told Putin to deal with his own war.

And tonight, Putin is saying that he's willing to speak with anyone on the Ukrainian side about peace with Ukraine, including its leader, Zelensky.

Brett.

Yeah, that's a big deal.

I'm going to talk about that with Brit Hume in just a bit.

The State Department, meantime, on another topic, Jackie, has lifted its suspension on foreign student visa applications.

But there's a catch here.

What's that about?

That's right.

The consular officers have been told they can go ahead and start scheduling appointments for visas again.

But the applicants must make sure that all their social media profiles are visible to the public on the public setting.

And if the profiles or the content remains private it will be considered an effort to conceal

and hide information and evade vetting.

Fox is told that the vetting officers are keeping an eye out for signs of hostility towards several things, including citizens, culture, government institutions, and also the founding principles of the U.S. spread.

Jackie Heinrich, live in the North Lawn.

Jackie, thank you.

I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final.

I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, you know, because things change.

The American people elected him to make these decisions on their behalf, and if and when those decisions are made, the department is prepared to execute.

We should not be part of getting lured into the regime change agenda of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

I don't want a war, but if you pick a fight with us, you're going to lose.

To our friends in Israel, keep it up.

We've got your back.

So the real question is, what happens next?

And will the president authorize the U.S. to go with those big penetrating bombs, the bunker busters, to try to take out and eliminate Iran's nuclear program, deeply buried?

There are concerns on Capitol Hill and the Intelligence Committee and other places, Democrats mostly, about lack of a plan, in their words.

Take a listen.

I have no foggy idea what American policy is right now towards this circumstance.

What is the timeliness of requiring any action in the next X number of hours?

No one has made that case.

He does not have, I don't think, even amongst my Republican friends, that there is not much confidence that he's got a plan here.

With that, let's bring in our panel.

USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers, Fox News contributor Mark Thiessen, and Olivia Beavers of The Wall Street Journal.

Francesca, the president saying after and before this latest national security meeting in the Situation Room, we have a plan.

We have a plan for everything.

Well, and the president also said, Brett, that nobody knows what I'm going to do.

And that is essentially what lawmakers were referring to today.

The president later telling reporters that even once he makes a final decision, that it's not final until the second beforehand because so many things can change.

To the extent that we do know what President Trump is thinking right now, they've sent White House reporters

home for the day.

He's been tweeting about the big beautiful bill and and other subjects are rather posting on true social.

And he has already had that meeting that you referred to with the National Security Council.

And we saw no announcement coming out of that this afternoon.

By the way, the video is announcing this big, beautiful flag, very big, and the White House lawn, which looks great in front of the building.

The president has been saying this, Mark.

There you see it now in the shot.

The president has been saying this about Iran not getting a nuclear weapon for many, many years, more than 10.

Take a listen to some of them.

I will stop Iran.

from getting nuclear weapons.

Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

A regime with this track record must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

So it's not like he's changing his tune.

You write this piece, Israel cleared the way, but only Trump can end Iran's nuclear program.

Four US presidents have declared that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, but only Trump set an actual deadline for the program's destruction.

Like his predecessors, Trump has repeatedly declared that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Striking Fordow would cement his legacy as the only president who had the will and fortitude to act on that promise.

Israel started this operation, but only Trump can finish it.

And there is that billboard mark in Israel.

Finish the job, Mr. President.

Absolutely.

Look, Donald Trump set the deadline.

Every president has said it.

He's actually doing it.

He gave them 60 days to come around.

And on day 61, the bombing began.

And it's starting with Israel.

And that's as it should be.

But the problem is, is that Israel hasn't really hit the Fordo facility, which is the crown jewel of the Iranian nuclear program.

And they really don't have the capability to destroy it.

They can damage it a lot.

They can hit the electricity, which would cause the centrifuges to shut down in an uncontrolled way that could destroy them.

They can hit the ventilation system, which makes it hard to use.

But they can't really take it out short of a commando raid, which would be very risky to send commandos in.

The U.S. can send B-2 bombers with a few bunker busters on them and destroy the thing.

And so I just don't believe that I think Trump is right right now in using the Israeli bombing as leverage to try and get the Iranians to do this peacefully one last time.

IF THEY DON'T AGREE, SORRY?

Even at the White House?

Not necessarily.

Wherever.

I don't think that the chances of...

I agree with you and Britt that I don't think there's going to be a scene of the Ayatollah in the White House anytime soon.

But I think that they could be forced to the table to do this peacefully.

But it's no longer negotiation.

It's capitulation.

It's we come in and we destroy it from the ground peacefully or we destroy it from the air violently.

And I don't think that Donald Trump is going to leave this mission unfinished.

And clearly, Olivia, there is a political divide in the president's party.

The Hill writes it, MAGA divide over Iran splinters Trump allies.

A vocal group of influential MAGA voices have been banging the drum in recent days to argue against any kind of U.S. involvement in a conflict with Iran.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Trump allies who have advocated for Trump to take an aggressive approach toward Iran.

Some have suggested the schism could fracture the president's coalition.

The president addressing that today.

My supporters are for me.

My supporters are America first.

They make America great again.

My supporters don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon.

I don't want to fight either.

I'm not looking to fight.

But if it's a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.

Olivia, what about that split and what it means to this president?

I mean, I think this Iran decision about whether the U.S. should become more involved is certainly bringing that to the forefront.

There is the isolationist and the interventionist, and it goes way up into high levels of the White House.

But you sort of saw a good taste of it today on Capitol Hill, where you have some Republicans pushing for the president to be more aggressive and get involved in Iran, and then others who are saying, please don't get the U.S. further involved.

There's concerns that

further involvement could pull the U.S. into a war, which would be counter to what President Trump also campaigned on, which he spoke about ending the U.S. involvement in endless wars when he was at the RNC.

But I do also agree with President Trump on one point, which is he has proven that his followers are flexible, forgiving, and loyal.

So we will see if even if there is a splintering there seems to be a general belief within the GOP that they will come back.

But there is always a time where the camel's back is broken.

So it's hard to hold a crystal ball on that.

Yeah.

I mean it's one thing about endless wars and you know

WHAT WE SAW IN THE MIDDLE EAST BEFORE AND TAKING OUT A NUCLEAR FACILITY AND OBVIOUSLY WE SHOWED HOW HE'S BEEN SAYING THEY COULDN'T GET A NUCLEAR BOMB FOR A LONG TIME.

I WANT TO PUT UP THIS FOX NEWS POLL ABOUT FAVORING U.S. FINANCIAL AID FOR FOREIGN CONFLICTS.

IT'S REALLY INTERESTING IN THE SPLIT OF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR, DEMOCRATS 70%

46% as far as financial aid to help in that.

And then the Middle East situation, it's exactly the opposite.

71%, 43% with Republicans favoring that.

You know, even tonight you have Vladimir Putin, Francesca, saying, you know what, I'm ready to sit with somebody in Ukraine, including Vladimir Zelensky.

Well, President Trump was supposed to meet with President Zelensky, by the way, earlier in the week, but then he came back early from the G7, and he said, essentially, that that's an issue for next week.

The president is still expected to go to the NATO summit next week, where he will meet with European leaders again.

But, of course, all of these things, Brett, are constantly in flux, given the situation that's taking place between Israel and Iran, and, of course, that conflict right now taking a back seat to what is happening in the Middle East.

Yeah.

Mark.

Just one thing.

I think this whole talk of a schism in the GOP over foreign policy is overblown.

Reagan Institute poll being released this weekend.

MAGA voters, 90% say stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is important to U.S. national security.

80% security of Israel is important to U.S. national security.

73% supporting arming Israel.

64%.

support Israel striking Iran's nuclear sites.

The MAGA movement is not isolationist.

Donald Trump is not an isolationist.

But I think some of the Republican isolationists are suddenly discovering that they're out of touch with the MAGA movement and Donald Trump.

But Mark, you can see that this is a historic moment that affects big picture his legacy.

Oh, 100%.

But again, I have total confidence in Donald Trump because Donald Trump is the guy who killed Qasem Soleimani.

You think he's afraid to take out Fordo?

Of course not.

He destroyed ISIS.

He launched a cyber attack on Russia.

He's not an isolationist.

All right, panel, we'll watch and wait.

Thank you.

U.S. is moving additional assets toward the Middle East, a number of them.

Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin shows us tonight from the Pentagon.

I may do it.

I may not do it.

I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.

Flight trackers showed 12 F-22 Raptors take off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia toward Lake and Heath Air Base in the UK with onward movement to the Middle East.

The USS Ford, currently in Norfolk, Virginia, will deploy on a normal rotation next week.

to U.S. European Command, which stretches to the eastern Mediterranean.

In Bahrain, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet moved out to sea nearly all of its vessels to protect them from a potential Iranian counterattack.

President Trump said he was impressed with the success of Israel's strikes on the first night, but concerned about how fast they are burning through munitions.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States of America, That first hit, that was one hell of a hit, not sustainable, to be honest.

At the White House, President Trump had lunch with the head of Pakistan's military.

Pakistan has a 562-mile-long border with Iran and could be a good staging ground for U.S. aircraft, according to former defense officials.

Pakistan has nuclear weapons and, given its close friendship with Iran, could play a role in mediating.

On Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked about the Pentagon's plans in the Middle East.

My question for you is whether you have been asked actively to provide options for the president regarding a strike in the Middle East.

If I had or I had not, I wouldn't disclose that in this forum.

Experts say it's clear from the attempts to surge U.S. military assets into the Middle East tonight that the U.S. was not quite ready to carry out a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities but could soon be, Brett.

The president appeared to be buying time for the U.S. military to get into position, teasing the media with a potential decision to strike but also leaving open the possibility of changing his mind.

Brett.

Well, watch it.

Jennifer Griffin live at the Pentagon.

Jennifer, thank you.

Israel is becoming more direct in its overtures to the U.S. to get involved in the conflict with Iran.

Let's get an update on what's happening there.

Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yangst is live again in Tel Aviv tonight.

Good evening, Trey.

Brett, good evening.

Right now, there's no end in sight to the war between Israel and Iran.

The Israeli Security Cabinet met tonight to discuss the next steps in this conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Trump today as the region waits to see if the U.S. will get more directly involved in the fight.

I wish to thank President Trump, a great friend of the state of Israel.

I thank him for standing by us, and I thank him for the support the United States is providing us in defending Israel's skies.

In Tel Aviv, new billboards were put up with a message for President Trump.

They say Mr. President finished the job.

Tel Aviv, like many other Israeli cities, came under fresh missile fire this afternoon, sending millions of people into bomb shelters.

Today, Israeli airstrikes continued to pound the Iranian capital of Tehran, in addition to strikes that went after ballistic missile launchers.

Still, Iran vows to continue its attacks against Israel, rejecting calls for a surrender, while Iran's leader made his first televised remarks since the war began.

Threats do not affect the behavior of the Iranian nation and the thoughts of the Iranian nation.

Secondly, telling the Iranian nation to come and surrender is not a wise thing to do.

More Iranian missiles targeted central Israel tonight.

The IDF telling Fox News they were shot out of the sky.

Brett.

Trey Yext, live in Tel Aviv.

Trey, thanks.