President Donald Trump, center, walks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, second left, to board Marine One following a cabinet meeting at Camp David, near Thurmont, Maryland, on Friday, July 31. (Nathan Howard/AP)

President Donald Trump, center, walks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, second left, to board Marine One following a cabinet meeting at Camp David, near Thurmont, Maryland, on Friday, July 31. (Nathan Howard/AP)

President Donald Trump’s top national security aides met secretly at Camp David on Friday to weigh the Iran war and a Saudi offensive against Houthi forces in Yemen, three U.S. officials told Axios.

Vice President JD Vance chaired the hours-long session at the presidential retreat, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine also participating, according to the officials.

“Things were decided or at least deeply discussed,” one official told Axios, referring to the Middle East crisis.

The unannounced gathering was the first of its kind since June 2025, days before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran. U.S.-Iran talks have stalled since Trump rejected Tehran’s latest peace proposal, and the president is weighing whether to resume major combat operations against Iran.

“They’ll either sign a very fair deal, or they won’t exist any longer,” Trump said Thursday en route to Oklahoma, The Hill reported.

Saudi Arabia is simultaneously preparing a major counteroffensive against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who seized control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical Red Sea shipping chokepoint, last month.

Riyadh has pressed the White House for direct U.S. airstrikes on Houthi targets, a request Washington has rebuffed twice in recent weeks. Trump has leaned against joining the Yemen fight, officials said, though they added he could still order airstrikes.

Asked Friday afternoon about his next move on Iran, Trump offered reporters no specifics, saying only, “If I told you, you would have a major story.”

With the war now in its eighth month, Trump has signaled he could resume strikes on Iran after the November midterm elections if talks fail, while Tehran has braced for a potentially broader clash.

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