US President Donald Trump said he would not be dragged into a war with Iran by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but vowed that Washington could be the "leader of the pack" if diplomacy fails and joint US-Israeli military action becomes necessary to thwart Tehran's nuclear program.

The US President, who reiterated his hope for resolving the issue through negotiations, expressed his openness to meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic or its president.

Trump made the remarks on Monday (April 21) in a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine published on Friday (April 25), a day before his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman for the third round of nuclear talks in two weeks.

During the interview, Trump predicted that Saudi Arabia would "very quickly" normalize relations with Israel and blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the recent death toll in Gaza because he "lifted all sanctions" on Iran, which "enabled them to fund the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas." Trump also said in the interview that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "understands" that Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, would remain with Russia as part of a potential agreement between the two countries. This comment was published shortly before Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin as part of truce talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Additionally, Trump said his administration has reached 200 yet-to-be-announced trade deals, as countries around the world seek to counter the punitive tariffs he announced earlier this month.

When asked by TIME about reports that he recently rejected Israeli proposals for a series of joint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump acknowledged that while he did not directly oppose Israel's plans, it "didn't make it comfortable" for them to proceed. "I think we can make a deal without attacking. I hope we can," Trump told TIME, acknowledging, as he has throughout his efforts to bring Iran to the nuclear negotiating table, that military action may be necessary in the future.

Trump repeated, "I didn't make it comfortable for them, but I didn't refuse. Ultimately, I would have given them that choice, but I said I'd rather make a deal than drop bombs."

When asked if he was concerned about Netanyahu being "dragged" into a war with Iran, Trump said the Israeli leader "may go to war. But we won't be dragged into it."

When asked again whether this meant the United States would avoid an Israeli attack on Iran, Trump made it clear that this was not the case.

"You asked him if he would drag me in, as if I would be forced to do so. No, I would voluntarily do so if we can't make a deal. If we can't make a deal, I'll be at the forefront of the group," Trump said. The US president said talks with Iran have made "very good progress" so far. Asked if he would be open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied, "Absolutely."

Trump, who withdrew the United States in 2018 from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers, has warned of military action against Iran unless a new agreement is quickly reached to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

Since 2019, Iran has far exceeded the limits of the 2015 agreement on uranium enrichment, producing stockpiles far in excess of what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program and a technical step away from weapons-grade material.

Israel's supporters in Washington, part of the Israeli lobby pushing for a US war on Iran, say Israel is deeply concerned that the United States is close to concluding a "bad deal" with Iran, one that will fail to meet the basic conditions announced by Jerusalem to ensure the regime cannot acquire nuclear weapons. Israel's Channel 12 News, citing Israeli media, reported that Israel believes the negotiations are "very advanced" and that the United States is not sharing enough information with Israel on specific key issues.

Speaking to Time magazine, Trump accused Biden of enabling Iran to build a so-called axis of resistance by easing sanctions imposed by the United States on Tehran during Trump's first term.

When asked who he blamed for the more than 1,000 deaths in Gaza since Israel renewed hostilities there last month, Trump said, "I blame the Biden administration because they allowed Iran to come back into the game without a deal."

"There was no money for Hamas. There was no money for Hezbollah," Trump said. Trump claimed, "When Biden came in and lifted all the sanctions... they started funding terrorism again, including Hamas." Trump also accused the Biden administration of halting the "tremendous success" of the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements brokered by the White House during the first Trump administration between Israel, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

"They haven't done anything about the Abraham Accords," Trump said of the Biden administration. "We had four countries there, and everything was ready. We were going to fill it. Now we're going to start it all over again."

Trump, who is scheduled to visit Riyadh next month, told TIME magazine that he believes Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords, adding, "I think they (the kingdom) will do it very quickly."

According to observers, Saudi-Israeli normalization appeared to be approaching before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, when two Israeli ministers made unprecedented visits to the kingdom. However, normalization efforts faltered amid the ensuing war, as the kingdom insists on the establishment of a Palestinian state before it will normalize relations with Israel. Trump said the reason he pursued normalization was "because I like Saudi Arabia very much, and the crown prince and the king—I like them all, and they agreed to invest a trillion dollars in our economy."

"I'll go to Qatar next, then to the UAE," Trump said.