Officials tell Arab Gulf states to prepare for short, intense post-midterm campaign
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, briefed President Trump on Thursday on military options for Iran, a rare in-person visit to the White House as the United States weighs resuming major combat operations, according to U.S. officials and other people with direct knowledge of the meeting.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine joined Cooper for the session, which included other cabinet members and covered other topics, some of the people said. The top-level gathering followed a Wednesday session at the White House in which the military officers met with Vice President JD Vance, one of the people said.
Cooper rarely briefs Trump in person, so the meeting could signal that the U.S. is moving closer to significant military operations. He met with the president in July, when the two huddled with Hegseth and Caine on Air Force One in Delaware. A Pentagon spokesperson and a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, which Cooper heads, declined to comment.
The White House discussions came as Trump officials have told Arab Gulf states to be prepared for a short, intense campaign after the midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Vance has also engaged one of Iran’s most powerful hard-liners in an effort to revive peace negotiators, the Journal reported.
“We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump said at a rally last week, referring to the heavy U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign in the spring. “Or they’ll agree.”
Some lawmakers have expressed alarm that Trump could soon renew hostilities with Tehran. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who said he has previously been briefed on some of the classified planning, called the plans “insane.” “It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law,” Murphy said during a Wednesday appearance at the Middle East Institute.
Iran has threatened publicly and in private diplomatic communications to attack a broad array of U.S. and Gulf country targets in the region in response to any U.S. strike. Tehran has also resumed making ballistic missiles using stockpiled components in underground facilities and ramped up efforts to target U.S. personnel in the Middle East.
The Pentagon has laid the groundwork for a fresh bombing campaign in recent weeks, sending additional air defenses, munitions and supplies to the Middle East. It has also moved some troops off bases where they are considered vulnerable to get them out of harm’s way, the Journal has reported.
The Army is in the process of moving an additional Patriot battery to Israel to strengthen its missile defenses, a move that comes amid concerns over a shortfall in interceptors that the United States has been racing to resupply.