Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine both raised concerns about escalating the war in Iran as President Donald Trump weighed the possibility during a White House meeting on Friday, a source familiar with the matter and a US official told CNN.
On Friday night, the US appeared to pause its bombing campaign on Iran after nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of strikes. Operations are “on a hold,” a Department of Defense source told CNN on Saturday.
On Friday, Caine specifically raised concerns about the US munitions stockpile and other potential negative implications, according to the sources. One of the sources said that Caine told Trump and the US military they could carry out the options available to him and be successful but then warned of the possible implications.
The stockpile concern was one of many raised to Trump during the meeting, both sources said. The potential for massive civilian casualties inside Iran if the US resumed major combat operations was also raised, a person familiar with the matter said.
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Trump has threatened civilian infrastructure, including roads, bridges and power plants, over the past week, the targeting of which could constitute war crimes. Doing so could potentially leave scores of Iranians dead and many more to suffer without power or food, Trump was warned, according to the person.
The broad concerns raised during Friday’s meeting also included sparking a potential refugee crisis, Iranian retaliation against Gulf energy and desalination infrastructure and the potential for regional escalation, according to a source familiar with the discussion.
Most of the advisers in the room said that if Trump wanted to pull the trigger on a bigger attack, the US could do so in a devastating way, but that the president should consider the potential second- and third-order effects.
It’s currently unclear if the stockpile concern or warning about escalation were the primary reasons why the US paused consecutive nights of strikes or whether it will continue to do so.
“President Trump has always been consistent in saying he prefers a diplomatic solution, but he continues to retain all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the (Strait) of Hormuz or against allies,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“Combined with successful sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy and 13 straight days of strikes against military targets in response to their repeated aggression, it would be wise for Iran to work towards a negotiated deal. Otherwise, they know what will happen.”
A spokesperson for Caine said, “we do not comment on the confidential military advice the Chairman provides the President.”
This comes as key US weapons stockpiles remain significantly depleted and could come under more pressure if strikes on Iran continue.
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On Sunday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said the aid the US has provided to Ukraine in its war depleted a lot of the munitions stockpile.
“We inherited a difficult situation with many of our munitions having been given over in Ukraine,” Waltz said during an appearance on Fox News. “A lot of them expended in the Houthis, but we are rebuilding with cheaper, faster, more technologically capable as we are conducting this campaign.”
Democrats accused the Trump administration of recklessly entering the war.
“We should never have gotten into this senseless war, and we should end it now,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” show. “We have depleted our interceptors, which are the weapons we use to intercept incoming Iranian attacks, which are obviously necessary to protect American troops, and so we are depleting these every day, despite the fact that we could face other potential conflicts around the world.”
Speaking to reporters after the Friday meeting with Cabinet members and top advisors, Trump stressed that the US officials were actively negotiating with Iran, though he also said it was possible the military could continue its bombing campaign or “make it a heavier dose.” He claimed Iran seemed to be getting “more serious” in ongoing talks.
As of Friday afternoon, the Trump administration was still deliberating over what a potential escalation would look like, according to a source familiar. Gulf countries have urged restraint in recent conversations with administration officials but acknowledged the US has unique capabilities it could use to escalate the conflict if it chooses to do so, the source said.
Even after Trump said he was considering a massive attack against Iran this week, he had privately directed his negotiators to “keep talking,” according to a source familiar with the matter, underscoring how the president has been grappling with the reality of limited escalatory military operations short of putting US troops on the ground.
Few within Trump’s inner circle, or inside the Pentagon, believed the president’s options for escalating would yield the results he was looking for, according to multiple sources.
CNN has also reported that before the war began, Caine and other military leaders had warned Trump that a protracted military campaign could impact US weapons stockpiles.
“America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to CNN.
“We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests.”
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