Several senior U.S. administration officials met for hours at Camp David on Friday to discuss next steps regarding the war with Iran and rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, in a meeting described as unusual and not publicly announced by the White House.
The meeting was chaired by Vice President JD Vance and attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
The White House did not announce the meeting and did not immediately comment on it. A similar meeting was reportedly held in June 2025, shortly before the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war at the time.
One official who participated in the meeting said several decisions were discussed in depth, adding that some decisions may have already been made as developments in the Middle East continue to move rapidly.
The meeting came after President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was considering resuming a bombing campaign against Iran in the coming weeks, presenting Tehran with what he described as two options: reaching an agreement or facing military consequences.
Trump also said his administration did not want to leave what he called “chaos in Iran” for a future U.S. administration to deal with, while emphasizing that preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a firm U.S. objective.
The meeting took place amid continued tensions over Iran and escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, as the Trump administration considers its next steps and seeks to address the broader consequences of the conflict across the region.
