President Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, pushed back against reports that other members of Trump's team were caught off guard by his decision on the Iran nuclear deal, saying there were "lengthy discussions" taking place in the White House.

McMaster was responding to reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonGary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November Kushner says 'Alice in Wonderland' describes Trump presidency: Woodward book Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE was unaware that Trump had made a decision on whether or not to remain in the Iran nuclear agreement, and told CNN's "New Day" that discussions about the Iran deal and the country's larger influence in the Middle East had been taking part in the White House for quite some time.

"We've all been in lengthy discussions not just about the Iran deal but really about what to do about Iran's destabilizing behavior broadly," McMaster said Thursday. "The potential for a nuclear program, the need to block all paths to a nuclear weapon for Iran," he added.



ADVERTISEMENT

The top Trump aide seemed to signal a coming change in the administration's policy toward Iran, calling the 2015 nuclear agreement "incomplete" on CNN.

"But their ballistic missile program ... things not covered by this incomplete deal, and really what they've done to perpetuate violence across the Middle East" factored into Trump's decision, according to McMaster.

"We've taken a holistic look at this," McMaster continued. "I think what's different about the president's approach is, he didn't look at just the Iran deal. He placed his decision on the Iran deal in broad context of how we protect American citizens, American interests."

McMaster told host Chris Cuomo that he knows Trump's final decision on the matter, but wouldn't reveal it Thursday.

"I know what the decision is, but when the president reveals that, when he talks about it, he'll place it in the context of the broader approach to Iran, and what we have to do as a nation to protect our people, [and] what we have to do with our allies and partners to really prevent Iran from continuing this destabilizing behavior."