U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during speeches at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace on Feb. 19, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Assembled to raise money for the rebuilding and stabilization of Gaza, Trump`s Board of Peace was formally established on the sidelines of World Economic Forum in January of 2026. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has put the United States on the verge of war against Iran with the goal of ending that nation`s nuclear weapons program, less than eight months after proclaiming he had "completely and totally obliterated" that same program.

The United States Navy already has one carrier strike group within aircraft and missile range of Iran in the Arabian Sea. Another is underway to the Eastern Mediterranean, where it would also be in range and available to protect Israel and American bases in the region from retaliatory strikes.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One Thursday that Iran had to "make a deal" in the coming days. "I would think that would be enough time: 10-15 days. Pretty much maximum," he said on his way to a rally in Georgia.

That language is nearly identical to what he said on June 19, 2025: Iran had to make an agreement to abandon its nuclear program "within the next two weeks." Trump, though, ordered the military to hit three weapons sites in Iran after just two days.

Eight months later, Trump has not explained why a second attack on Iran is necessary now if the country`s nuclear weapons program was, in fact, destroyed by his air strike last year.

"Iran`s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," he told the nation in a White House speech hours after the June 21, 2025 attack.

"We obliterated Iran`s nuclear enrichment capacity, making it impossible for them to have a nuclear weapon, which they would have had probably in about two months from then," he said again in a Sept. 29, 2025, photo opportunity with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Indeed, the White House even posted a page on its website accusing those who questioned Trump`s use of that word of pushing "fake news."

Trump was specifically asked last week, given those earlier claims, why it was necessary to attack Iran`s nuclear facilities again. His answer, however, was difficult to understand.

"Well, you could get whatever the dust is down there. Uh, that`s really the least of the mission. If we do it, that would be the least of the mission. But we`d, you know, probably grab whatever`s - whatever`s left. It has been obliterated, as you know," he told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One on his way to conduct a political rally at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Thursday morning, Trump told his "Board of Peace" meeting that discussions with Iran are continuing but that Iran needs to make "a deal."

"They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region and they must make a deal or, if that doesn`t happen, I maybe can understand if it doesn`t happen, it doesn`t happen. But bad things will happen if it doesn`t," he said.

Representatives from Iran and the United States met Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland, but were unable to reach a deal. Progress towards any agreement seems halting at best.

Trump also appears to be ignoring Congress entirely as he moves forward with what could be a major war. Unlike former President George W. Bush, who went to Congress for authorization to attack Iraq in 2002, Trump does not appear to have given congressional leaders an update on his intentions, even as his buildup of Air Force and Navy planes and ships in the area continues.

Under the Constitution, only Congress can declare war, but presidents since World War II have increasingly taken military action on their own initiative.

Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973 in an attempt to rein that in, but the law only requires a president to notify congressional leaders after the military engagement has already taken place.