President Donald Trump relayed a message on the Middle East conflict through White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday, saying that he would decide whether to strike Iran “within the next two weeks.”

Trump has backed Israel’s airstrikes on Iran that have taken out some of the radical Islamic regime’s nuclear facilities and military leaders, while urging the Ayatollah to come to the negotiating table. The president has not ruled out direct U.S. military action against Iran, and even said that the United States knows “exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding.” Leavitt addressed the speculation surrounding the president’s thinking on conflict, reading a statement from Trump in the Briefing Room.

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” the president stated in his message.

.@PressSec shares a message from President Trump: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks." pic.twitter.com/r3yVnbZHAC

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 19, 2025

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that “nobody knows” what his thinking is on a potential U.S. strike on Iran, adding, “I may do it, I may not do it.” The president later said that Iran was only “a few weeks away” from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“I’m not looking to fight, but if it’s a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do,” Trump said. “Maybe we won’t have to fight. Maybe it will end very quickly.”

The president said earlier this week that Iran made a mistake by refusing to make a deal with the United States.

“I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” he said on Monday.

Leavitt added on Thursday that the Trump administration has continued “correspondence” with Iran.

White House confirms that the United States has continued to be in correspondence with the Iranian regime. pic.twitter.com/KUgj46Q2Af

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) June 19, 2025

Iran escalated the conflict on Thursday with a direct airstrike on an Israeli hospital, a move that Israel Health Minister Uriel Buso called an “act of terrorism and a crossing of a red line.”

Some reports suggest that Israel wants the United States to get directly involved in the conflict, so that the U.S. military can take out Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, which is built nearly 300 feet underground. Only America’s B-2 Bombers have the ability to drop a “bunker buster” bomb that could take out the Fordow plant in a single strike.

The new United States dietary guidelines, which are expected to be released this month, will remove the daily recommended limit for alcohol consumption.

The new guidelines, drafted by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,  “are expected to include a brief statement encouraging Americans to drink in moderation or limit alcohol intake due to associated health risks,” sources told Reuters.

This marks a shift for the guidelines. Since 1990, the daily recommended limits have been no more than one drink for women and up to two drinks for men. It also signals a rebuke of the Biden administration, which took steps to drastically limit the amount of alcohol Americans consume.

In the last month of his term, Biden’s surgeon general expressed a desire to place cancer risk warnings on all alcohol products. Biden had also tapped a secretive board called the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking to revise the alcohol portion of the dietary guidelines.

Sources close to the committee — which contained multiple Canadian citizens —warned it was “close to adopting the World Health Organization’s 2023 declaration: ‘No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health,’” as previously reported by The Daily Wire.

Dietary guidelines are published every five years. The current revision is being led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The intention behind making the change is “to ensure the guidelines reflect only the most robust evidence.”

“The scientific basis for recommending specific daily limits is limited,” one source commented.

The debate surrounding the potential benefits and harms of alcohol is still unsettled. Though some studies indicate an increased risk of cancer, others show that those who consume alcohol in moderation may have a lower mortality rate, and possess a lower risk of heart attack and stroke.

Authors of a Harvard meta-study concluded that “the data do not justify sweeping statements about the [negative] effects of moderate alcohol consumption on human health.”

The alcohol industry has responded positively to the news of the updated guidelines.

“Shares in alcohol companies rose shortly after the announcement, with both AB InBev and Diageo’s shares hitting an intraday high,” Reuters reported.