Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday while returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said:
United States President Donald Trump said a large US naval force was being deployed to the Gulf region with Iran in focus, as officials confirmed that an aircraft carrier strike group and other military assets would reach the Middle East in the coming days.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday while returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said:
“We’re watching Iran.”
“We have a big force going towards Iran,” he added, while stressing that he hoped tensions would not escalate.
“I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely,” Trump said. “And maybe we won’t have to use it … we have a lot of ships heading that way, just in case. We’ll see what happens.”
His comments came after he appeared last week to soften earlier threats of military action against Tehran, saying he had received assurances that protesters would not be executed.
US media have also reported that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group were diverted from exercises in the South China Sea to the Middle East.
Trump reiterated on Thursday that his previous warnings to Iran had prevented the execution of more than 800 protesters and said he remained open to dialogue with the country’s leaders.
Iranian officials have denied planning executions connected to the antigovernment protests that began in late December. Iranian state media reported that the unrest left 3,117 people dead, including 2,427 civilians and members of the security forces.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Trump said he hoped there would be no further US military action against Iran but warned that Washington would respond if Tehran resumed its nuclear programme.
“They can’t do the nuclear,” Trump said in Davos. “If they do it, it’s going to happen again,” he added, referring to US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, when Washington joined Israel in a 12-day conflict with Iran.
The United States had previously ordered a major military buildup in the Middle East ahead of those June attacks, with officials later saying the move helped conceal Washington’s intentions at the time.
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