Middle East top updates: Indian-origin investor says she spent two hours with Trump before US attacked Iran

Asha Jadeja Motwani, an Indian-origin venture capitalist, says she spent two hours with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on the night he chose to stop all negotiations with Iran and start war. “We were honored to meet with President Trump for two hours last night at Mar-a-Lago,” Motwani said. “On a night that will forever change the history of our planet… the president chose to stop all negotiations with Iran and begin war – with brave Israelis leading the entire operation.” At the dinner table, the main discussions were about the midterm elections and the war with Iran. “Throughout three days at Mar-a-Lago, I watched Steve Witkoff, Rubio, Hegers, Jared Kushner, Susie and the entire team shuttle back and forth between the ‘War Room’ and the Presidential Residence. Trump was working around the clock, as always. Seven days a week,” Motwani wrote. Motwani added: “Beyond the usual excitement of meeting our extremely positive president, I most importantly heard first-hand the latest high-level news from the Middle East from Steve Witcoff (I am buying a small house near him in Miami) … and got to know the family.” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the attack was the “last and best chance” to attack Iran. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegers said that unlike the operation in Iraq, this operation will not continue indefinitely because they have a clear mission, which is to eliminate the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, destroy the country’s navy and ensure that “there are no nuclear weapons.”“This is not a so-called regime change war, but regimes do change and the world is better for it,” Hegseth said, adding that it was “not a nation-building quagmire, nor a democracy-building exercise.” “Our goals are clear. First, we are destroying Iran’s missile capabilities… Second, we are eliminating their navy… Third, we are ensuring that the world’s number one sponsor of terror never obtains a nuclear weapon. And finally, we are ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund and command terrorist armies abroad,” Hegseth said.