Democrat: Trump two-week Iran deadline 'not a bad thing'

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) tepidly praised President Trump on his handling of the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran, after the president said he would wait two weeks to decide whether to take direct action against Iran.

"The fact that we're not reading about a U.S. attack on Iran right now actually gives me a little bit of comfort," the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee told independent broadcaster Jim Acosta in an interview posted online Thursday.

Trump said in a statement that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read to reporters during Thursday's press briefing that there is "substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future."

"I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks," the president said.

The announcement prompted Trump's critics to revive the TACO meme, short for "Trump Always Chickens Out," and accuse the president of frequently falling back to a two-week timeline for decisions — regardless of their importance.

"We can sort of joke about TACO, and you know everything is two weeks or four weeks or never, but I think when you’re talking about war in the Middle East, going slower than rather than faster is not a bad thing," Himes said.

The United Nations Security Council is meeting Friday to discuss the ongoing strikes between Israel and Iran as the conflict enters its second week.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, met with Britain’s foreign secretary Thursday to discuss potential diplomatic off-ramps.

Himes told Acosta that he thinks there is still time to work out an agreement before the U.S. military jumps into the war.

"The advice I would give the president is, you are in a point of maximum leverage right now, and the regime has been badly hurt, badly embarrassed," Himes said, describing the U.S.'s ability to negotiate a deal on Iran's nuclear future. "They're probably worried about what's gonna happen inside Iran with the Iranian people."