White House says Trump's priority on Iran is diplomacy, notes ‘lethal force' on table

The White House said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's approach to Iran prioritizes diplomacy but does not rule out military action if needed.

"President Trump's first option is always diplomacy, but as he has shown, he is willing to use the lethal force of the United States military if necessary," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Leavitt pointed to the "overwhelmingly successful" Operation Midnight Hammer in June, which she said obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities, while cautioning that the threat had not been fully eliminated. "That does not mean that Iran may never try again to establish a nuclear program that could directly threaten the United States, our allies abroad," she said, adding that preventing that scenario is what Trump was focused on.

She also pushed back against recent media reporting on internal deliberations, saying anyone "hiding behind an anonymous source, pretending to know what President Trump is thinking ... has no idea what they're talking about." She emphasized that Trump remains "the final decision maker."

Leavitt said Trump would address "the threats that remain abroad" in his upcoming State of the Union address, pointing to Iran's "Death to America" chants as evidence of a continued threat.

The remarks come as the third round of indirect nuclear talks, mediated by Oman, is scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, where Iran is expected to present a draft proposal.

Tensions have risen dramatically following the deployment of US aircraft carriers and bombers to the Middle East in recent weeks.