Trump Says You Will Know Soon Enough on Iran; Report: Pentagon Ready if He Orders

Update, Nov. 6

Axios reports that President Trump met his national security team on Iran for the first time since the midterms and says a decision is coming soon on whether to resume major strikes. Per Axios, advisers have framed three options: new strikes; continued economic pressure; or a deal with concessions.

Qatari draft terms (Axios)

Axios describes a Qatari-mediated draft under which the United States would lift the naval blockade and release some frozen funds, Iran would invite international nuclear inspectors, and then the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and nuclear talks would resume, over about two days.

CENTCOM is finalizing preparations that could support a return to major combat but has received no new directive, Axios says. A third carrier strike group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt is not expected before mid-November. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held calls with counterparts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, Oman and Egypt.

Thursday's Oval Office remarks are covered in the Nov. 5, 5 PM CT update below; this item focuses on the Axios post-midterm options account. No presidential order to resume major combat has been announced.

AP: secret deportation talks during the war

Separately, court documents reported by the Washington Post / AP show the administration held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranian nationals even while the countries were at war. That is a distinct track from the combat-options debate.

Update, Nov. 5, 5 PM CT

President Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon. Per Iran International and Al Jazeera's live blog (also relayed by Barak Ravid and i24NEWS on X), he said:

I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You will know soon enough.

He said he thinks it will take Iran 25 years to rebuild, claimed the United States already controls "everything we wanted to control," and added that "a lot of things [are] cooking" over the next week or two. Those lines are sharper than his morning/election-night "maybe I will, maybe I won't" framing. He has not announced an order to resume major combat.

Iran nuclear proposal via Qatar (Reuters)

A senior Iranian official told Reuters (also Jerusalem Post) that Tehran has sent the United States a nuclear proposal through Qatar, to be discussed only after Washington meets Tehran's seven demands, which include sanctions relief, release of frozen assets, and ending the naval blockade, among other conditions. The official said the U.S. was reviewing the proposal. Asked about it, Trump told reporters Iran is "not doing anything without our approval" and "they're not going to have a nuclear weapon."

Status: Reported; not confirmed by the White House.

The New York Times reported on Nov. 5, 2026 — citing unnamed Pentagon officials and military commanders who spoke Wednesday — that thousands of American air and naval forces on more than a dozen ships and at bases around the Middle East and in the United States are poised to resume major combat operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders it. DNYUZ and JFeed carry the same account. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said the U.S. and Israeli militaries have drawn up plans for a short, intensive campaign whose likely targets include energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenals.

Al Jazeera's Nov. 5 live blog relays the Times report and says Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate calls with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar amid mounting fears of a U.S. attack.

Trump's conflicting signals

On election night Nov. 4, Trump told Fox News (Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier) that the United States had "wiped them out, practically," but had not "finished the job," adding: "maybe I will, maybe I won't" (Mediaite / Yahoo, Fox News live). That sits alongside his earlier Financial Times interview remark that the United States has no immediate plans to strike Iran because "we seem to be getting everything we want."

No White House confirmation of a decision to resume major combat has been issued. Limited U.S. strikes on Iranian missiles around Qeshm Island earlier this week were described by U.S. officials as defensive, not a return to major operations. Related: U.S. Officials: Limited 'Defensive' Strikes Hit Iranian Missiles on Qeshm Island.

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