‘Now how can I tell you such a thing?’

President-elect Donald Trump refused to say on Monday whether he would support the US or Israel carrying out preemptive air strikes on Iran to prevent it from successfully building a nuclear weapon, after reports that he would oppose the move. Are considering.

“Am I going to launch preemptive strikes on Iran? Is this a serious question? How can I answer such a question?” Trump, 78, told this to a reporter at his lengthy Mar-a-Lago press conference.

At a resort question-and-answer session in Palm Beach, Florida, a second reporter asked the incoming president whether he would support Israel launching a preemptive strike.

“Now how can I tell you such a thing?” Trump hit back.

“You don’t talk about something before it may or may not happen. I don’t want to disrespect you, it’s not something that has anything to do with there or anywhere else in the world,” he said.

The soon-to-be 47th President has recently expressed concern Iran’s nuclear capabilities According to the Wall Street Journal, a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tehran has long denied that it is making nuclear weapons — despite reports in recent years that the nation is working to enrich its uranium supply to weapons-grade levels.

Trump has previously expressed great concern about the Iranians targeting him in an assassination attempt and told Time magazine in his 2024 “Person of the Year” interview last week that “anything could happen” when asked. Asked whether he would go to war with Iran. Upcoming term.

The once-and-future President and his advisers are deliberating about the best way to proceed with Iran, and they have two main strategies either by deploying more troops to the Middle East or by giving more weapons to Israel. More military pressure is involved, the Journal wrote in its report.

In addition to the threat of direct military attack, economic sanctions could also be imposed on the Iranian regime.

Trump has insisted that he would end the Israel–Hamas war if returned to office and that peace in the Middle East would be easier to achieve than the Ukraine–Russia conflict.

“We had a very good conversation. We discussed what’s going to happen, and I’ll be available on January 20,” Trump told reporters about his recent discussion with Netanyahu on the conflict.