Two Weeks Trump. What Does He Mean? He Doesn’t Know, and Hopes You Forget

Jun 20, 2025 06:22 PM EDT, Fri

A familiar metric: White House says to expect Iran decision within ‘two weeks’

Donald Trump’s reliance on a two-week timeline for a decision on Iran represents a striking failure of self-awareness.

June 19, 2025, 2:10 PM EDT By Steve Benen

When it comes to a possible U.S. military strike in Iran, Donald Trump has raised more questions than he’s answered. Last week, the president and his team went out of their way to say that the United States had “nothing to do with” Israel’s attack on Iran. This week, Trump declared, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” before demanding the country’s “unconditional surrender.”

No one seems able to say with confidence what the Republican intends to do, why he’d do it, or even when we might learn of his decision. I’ve found myself periodically checking his social media platform, looking for some kind of poorly written “Bombs Away” message, followed by an unhealthy number of exclamation points.

Evidently, I can stop hitting refresh — for two weeks.

At her latest briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged the “speculation” about the White House’s policy, which led her to read a prepared statement from the president. It read, “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.”

It’s difficult to say with confidence whether these negotiations exist or whether they’ll succeed, but the fact that Trump and his team has rolled out another “two week” timeline represents a remarkable failure of self-awareness.

Last week for example, the president said U.S. trading partners should expect letters on unilateral tariff rates in “two weeks.” Shortly before that, the president was asked about Vladimir Putin’s alleged interest in “peace.” He replied, “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll let you know in about two weeks.”

Last month, Trump was asked about tariff rates on pharmaceutical products. “I’ll know in the next two weeks,” he said.

Alas, we can keep going. Where’s Trump’s health care plan? It’ll be ready in “two weeks.” What about a possible minimum-wage increase? That, too, will be unveiled in “two weeks.” On everything from tax policy to infrastructure, immigration to reproductive health, the president’s detailed solutions are always just “two weeks” away.

By now, most observers are probably familiar with how the game is played: The Republican is asked for his position on an issue; he dodges the question by saying he’ll make an announcement “in two weeks”; and then he waits for everyone to forget about his self-imposed deadline.

Except, we don’t forget. Instead, we shake our heads in exasperation because of the cynical assumptions at the heart of this unfortunate rhetorical trick, which no one falls for anymore.

In this latest example, a reporter felt compelled to remind Leavitt of the familiarity of the administration’s latest timeline.

If recent history is any guide, she and Trump will keep using it anyway, indifferent to the embarrassment.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

Related Posts