❗️Trump considers sending second aircraft carrier to West Asia to pressure Iran

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is weighing the deployment of a second aircraft carrier strike group to West Asia, signaling increased pressure on Tehran amid ongoing nuclear talks. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” Trump told Axios, confirming internal discussions about sending additional forces to join the USS Abraham Lincoln currently in the region.

Trump framed the choice for Iran as an either-or: ‘Either we make a deal, or we will have to take very tough action, like last time,’ he said, referring to extrajudicial US airstrikes last June on key Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. He suggested that the threat of force has shifted Tehran’s approach.

Despite currently engaging in acts of aggression towards Iran, Trump expressed optimism about a diplomatic outcome. He called a potential agreement on Iran’s nuclear program “a no-brainer” and suggested it could curb Tehran’s ballistic missile capabilities. Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit today, Trump dismissed concerns of disagreement, saying Netanyahu “also wants a deal. He wants a good deal.”