Recently, it was reported that key members of the Trump administration had held an “unusual” secret meeting in Camp David regarding the situation in the Middle East. According to a report by the American website Axios on October 5th, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the meeting on Monday.
Before setting off for Europe, Rubio spoke briefly with reporters. He said, "We often hold meetings to discuss long-term strategic planning and similar matters. It's not uncommon for us to gather as a team. This was just another opportunity to have a meeting in an environment with less interference."
He added, “This is part of the role that the National Security Council plays—bringing together various stakeholders to make long-term plans. The planning period can be six or nine months, but in many cases it is five or ten years. I wouldn’t call this routine business… but we have held similar meetings before.”
According to Axios, on Friday (October 2nd), three American officials revealed that Trump's "key cabinet members" held several hours of closed-door meetings at the President's vacation home in Camp David, Maryland, discussing the situation in Iran and next steps regarding the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houla militant group in Yemen.
The meeting was chaired by Vice President Williams of the United States. Attendees included Rubio, Defense Secretary Hagel, Presidential Envoy Whitlock, CIA Director Latelle, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Casey, and Treasury Secretary Beinsente.
According to reports quoting multiple U.S. officials, this meeting was “highly unusual,” and the Trump administration did not officially announce it to the public. The last similar meeting took place in June 2025, just a few days before Israel launched a war against Iran.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed that during this meeting, regarding the situation in the Middle East, “some decisions have been made, or at least there has been extensive discussion.”
The White House refused to comment on this matter. On the afternoon when the advisors met at Camp David, Trump himself was also questioned by reporters about the next steps regarding Iran.
“If I tell you, you can get big news,” he said, “but you will see. Things are going very well. The situation in Iran isn’t very good.”
American media reports that Trump is considering resuming large-scale military operations against Iran due to a deadlock in negotiations.
On October 1st, local time, American media reported extensively that the US military was deploying more troops in the Middle East, including the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, several amphibious assault ships, and thousands of Marine Corps personnel. In an interview published in Time magazine on the same day, Trump said that after the November midterm elections, he would ‘possibly’ order a more aggressive response against Iran.
