President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he was just “an hour away” from attacking Iran this week until his Gulf allies persuaded him to delay the strike.

“We were all set to go. You’re talking about yesterday? We were going to be striking very – it would have been happening right now,” Trump said during a press conference outside of the White House. “Yeah, it was all done. The boats, the ships were all loaded. They were all loaded to the brim and we were all set to start.”

A reporter then asked Trump about how long his allies — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar — had been aware he was planning to attack Iran again.

“They knew I was getting ready to attack,” he responded. “I didn’t tell them. I never tell anybody when. I never tell anybody when, but they knew that we were very close. I would say I was an hour away from making the decision to go today, and we would probably not be talking about a beautiful ballroom today, we’d be talking about that.”

The president said he decided to hold off on his attacks after the leaders of those countries called him.

“They said, ‘Sir, could you give us a couple more days because we think they’re being reasonable,’” said the president.

Trump’s remarks come a day after he elaborated on the exchange with allies in a Monday post on Truth Social.

“I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond,” he wrote.

The post featured a starkly different tone from his searing words aimed at Iran on Sunday.

“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” he wrote.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.