White House says Trump 'closely' monitoring Iran situation from Mar-a-Lago resort

US President Donald Trump and his senior aides has been "closely" monitoring the Iran situation from the leader's Florida resort on Saturday, the White House said, after the United States and Israel launched military attacks against Iran.

“President Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago alongside members of his national security team," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X (formerly Twitter), adding that Trump also spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu by phone.

She also said that the US leader and security officials will continue to closely monitor the developments involving Iran throughout the day.

These attacks prompted Iran to retaliate and attack US bases in the Middle East, including in Israel. Subsequently, explosions were reported in several Gulf capitals, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, and Manama.

The US' Operation Epic Fury and Israel's Operation Rising Lion were carried out despite the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran over the country's nuclear programme.

“Prior to the attacks, Secretary Rubio called all members of the gang of eight to provide congressional notification, and he was able to reach and brief seven of the eight members,” Leavitt said on X.

Around a week ago, President Trump warned of consequences if no agreement was reached, giving Iran a deadline of 10 to 15 days. Trump said that “bad things” will happen.

Shortly after that, Oman announced a further round of negotiations in Geneva, noting some constructive movement while acknowledging that significant differences persisted.

However, a sudden escalation in hostilities following the latest strikes today from all parties involved raised tensions, casting fresh doubt over the diplomatic track that these countries were following earlier.

“The Ministry of Defence announced that the United Arab Emirates was subjected today to a blatant attack by Iranian ballistic missiles. The UAE's air defences responded with high efficiency and successfully intercepted a number of the missiles,” AFP quoted the UAE statement as saying.

Abu Dhabi also said that it "reserves its full right to respond", describing the attacks as “a dangerous escalation”. All these developments have materialised into a full-blown conflict breaking out in the Middle East.