Vance Chairs Camp David National Security Meeting on Iran War as Talks Stall and a Third Carrier Group Heads to the Region

Senior members of President Donald Trump’s national security team met for hours at Camp David on Friday to discuss the next steps in the Iran war and the Saudi-Houthi conflict in Yemen, according to Iran International. Vice President JD Vance chaired the meeting, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The meeting took place as negotiations with Tehran have stalled and Trump is considering renewed major combat operations against Iran.

The Soufan Center reported that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is en route to join the USS George H.W. Bush and the USS George Washington, which would bring U.S. naval strength to three carrier groups by the end of October. It quotes Trump, speaking the week before its report and not precisely dated: “Now I have to make a decision: either Iran signs the deal, or it won’t exist any longer.” Iran International also reports a tanker turned back after the Revolutionary Guards hailed the vessel and threatened to target it if it continued its inbound transit, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

Context: this follows the earlier Hormuz blockade and the June memorandum of understanding that reopened the strait for nuclear talks; see 2026-04-12–trump-orders-strait-of-hormuz-blockade-after-iran-talks-collapse and 2026-06-17–us-iran-mou-signed-versailles-hormuz-reopened-60-day-nuclear-talks.