Trump Says He Gave Iran the 'Ultimate Ultimatum'

Iran's supreme leader may not be into the idea of an unconditional surrender, but the Wall Street Journal reports President Trump didn't back down on the demand for one on Wednesday. In comments to reporters outside the White House, Trump described Iran as having "a lot of trouble" and wanting to negotiate, but Trump expressed that the window to do so had closed:

• "I said, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction? Why didn't you negotiate?' I said to people, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me two weeks ago, you could have done fine. You would have had a country.' It's very sad to watch this."

When asked what he thought of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's response to him, NBC News reports Trump replied: "I say 'good luck.'" As for his current thinking on whether to hit Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump said, "I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I'm going to do." Should Trump decide to do so, "the Department [of Defense] is prepared to execute [those decisions]," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, per the Guardian.

When asked if he gave Iran an ultimatum, Trump said he gave it the "ultimate ultimatum," but he didn't elaborate, reports ABC News. Trump added, per USA Today: "The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week." (More President Trump stories.)