At the White House today President Donald Trump and Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held a closed-door meeting, which Trump called “excellent.” He said this afterward at a press conference in the White House briefing room. He said, “We’re just keeping it the status quo, and we’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbors.” Calling things “effectively over militarily” with Iran, Trump said that the United States will remain “locked and loaded,” but will wait and see. He said that Iran is talking to the United States “nicely.”

Trump elaborated at some length on how destroyed Iran’s economy is, and how powerful the U.S. forces are, but otherwise said that the U.S. policy would rely on its “land and sea” approach of a naval blockade, along with the new U.S. “Iron Gate” operation to limit Iran’s overland commerce.