B-2 bomber on the runway in Diego Garcia in April this year<\/p>\n
Multiple U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers appeared to be airborne and heading west from the United States across the Pacific, and President Trump is scheduled to return to the White House late on Saturday afternoon from New Jersey as he deliberates about whether to join Israel\u2019s efforts to destroy Iran\u2019s nuclear sites.<\/p>\n
Air traffic control communications<\/a> indicated that several B-2 aircraft \u2014 the planes that could be equipped to carry the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs that Mr. Trump is considering deploying against Iran\u2019s underground nuclear facilities in Fordo \u2014 had taken off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.<\/p>\n Some flight trackers<\/a> said on social media that the destination of the aircraft is Guam, the U.S. territory, which has several military installations, although that could not be independently confirmed. The bombers appeared to be accompanied by refueling tankers<\/a> for portions of the journey, the flight tracking data showed.<\/p>\n Moving planes does not mean a final decision has been made about whether to strike.<\/p>\n It is not unusual to shift military assets into position to provide options to the president and military commanders even if they are not ultimately deployed.<\/p>\n The White House schedule for the weekend said that Mr. Trump would return from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and would meet with his national security team at 6 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday. Mr. Trump typically spends both weekend days out of town at one of his properties.<\/p>\n A White House spokeswoman declined to comment.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has made clear he is weighing whether to have the U.S. join Israel\u2019s effort to curtail Iran\u2019s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, a line he has drawn repeatedly over the years.<\/p>\n But he also gave himself extra time to say what he intends to do. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday that the president would make a decision within the next two weeks as he gives Iran another chance to engage in talks.<\/p>\n The president has been seeking a deal with Iran for months, but became frustrated at the refusal of Iranian officials to agree to a proposal to end uranium enrichment on Iranian soil. At the same time, the U.S. intelligence community came to the conclusion in early June that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel planned to move forward with strikes against Iran, with or without U.S. help.<\/p>\n Those strikes began on June 12 and have continued since, killing multiple members of Iran\u2019s military leadership and drawing retaliatory strikes from Iran against Israel.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has been torn between the opportunity to carry out what could be a devastating blow against Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities at a moment when Iran\u2019s defenses have been greatly weakened and the concern that doing so would risk the kind of protracted U.S. military engagement in the region that he campaigned against in 2016 and 2024. That debate has also split his supporters.<\/p>\n On Friday, Mr. Trump reiterated his time frame for a decision on military action \u201cwithin two weeks,\u201d saying the thinking behind it was \u201cjust time to see whether or not people come to their senses.\u201d<\/p>\n