President Donald Trump warned this week that Iran is manufacturing weapons that could soon strike US soil, though his pitch for what should come next has left many with more questions than answers.
Tehran is ‘working on missiles that will soon reach’ the US, Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. He also vowed to prevent Iran, the ‘number one sponsor of terrorism,’ from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump has openly flirted with regime change too, telling reporters recently that the ousting of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ‘would be the best thing that could happen.’
Two aircraft carrier strike groups – representing around 15,000 soldiers, over a dozen ships, hundreds of planes and likely some submarines – are being used by Trump to get Iran to capitulate to his denuclearization demands.
In addition, many thousands of troops and scores of military assets are on bases throughout the region, though there are some reports of evacuations.
The stalemate has recently shown some signs of traction with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner‘s meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with chief Iran negotiator Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Oman’s foreign minister. Additional meetings are scheduled for Friday.
‘The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight — there is no chance that will happen,’ Vice President JD Vance, who is a part of the negotiations with Iran, told the Washington Post.
Still, the administration’s aggressive military posture and brazen tone – Trump advisor Dan Scavino ominously posted a video of B2 stealth bombers readying on the runway to Metallica’s ‘Enter the Sandman’ around midnight on Thursday – signal a predetermined choice.
Trump has said that regime change in Iran ‘would be the best thing that could happen’
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete on February 26, 2026. The carrier strike group is made up of 7,500 to 8,000 soldiers
An Iranian man has a photograph of the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei stitched to his uniform while leaving after the Friday prayer ceremony at the Mosallah mosque in Tehran, Iran, 27 February 2026
Trump has ordered one of the largest US military buildups in decades right on Iran’s doorstep as the two countries are in active negotiation about Tehran’s nuclear program. What comes next has Congress on edge.
And these days, whether by choice or design, Congress is all but powerless to stop the president from striking.
‘Trump is preparing to attack Iran and draft America into an Iraq War 2.0. What does he think he will achieve, and at what cost? So far, we have no idea,’ Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq, wrote this week.
‘And if Trump starts another war, and Congress won’t stop him, then it’s time for the American people to hold both accountable. It’s remarkable how many who voted for the Iraq War are still there,’ the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement.
The Senate narrowly passed a war powers resolution in January after the president successfully ordered the capture of ex-dictator Nicolas Maduro. However, the bill is stalled in the House as it faces bipartisan opposition.
Lawmakers have historically ceded some wartime power to the president in the case of short, targeted campaigns or strikes, allowing the commander-in-chief to circumvent an official declaration of war.
‘We don’t need to be doing it. We took out their nuclear capability, and we don’t need a long and protracted war in the Middle East,’ Trump-foil Republican Congressman Thomas Massie said Tuesday. ‘This is not ‘America First.’
An unclassified report from the Defense Intelligence Agency detailing the different ways the US homeland could be targeted by adversaries
Air Force military aircrafts are seen parked on the tarmac of the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on February 25, 2026
Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones are positioned on the tarmac at a base in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) operating area, Nov. 23
This week, CIA Director John ratcliffe as well as other top Trump administration officials briefied a select few members of Congress on the situation in Iran.
But US intelligence reports have not yet concluded that Iran is capable of crafting a weapon capable of reaching the homeland.
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed last year that Iran could need until 2035 to create a ‘militarily viable’ intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – the kind that travels thousands of miles, including, for a time, through space before the warhead plummets towards its target.
‘Iran has space launch vehicles it could use to develop a militarily-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to pursue the capability,’ the DIA report states.
The Islamic Republic’s satellite launching vehicles may be able to eventually support advanced weapons, like nuclear payloads.
