President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE criticized the media on Saturday for reporting that he halted plans for a military strike on Iran, tweeting that he had merely ordered the strike to not go forward "at this time."

In a tweet Saturday evening, the president appeared to indicate that a military strike on Iran could be possible in the coming days unless tensions between the two countries eased.

"I never called the strike against Iran “BACK,” as people are incorrectly reporting, I just stopped it from going forward at this time!" Trump tweeted.

I never called the strike against Iran “BACK,” as people are incorrectly reporting, I just stopped it from going forward at this time! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2019

The White House did not immediately return a request for clarification on the president's tweet.

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A report from The New York Times Thursday indicated that Trump had ordered a predawn attack on Iran, only to redirect forces and call off the attack after hearing reports that as many as 150 Iranians could be killed.

The two nations drifted perilously close to war this week after the downing of an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone, which the U.S. said was over international waters at the time but which Iranian forces countered had crossed over the country's southern Hormozgan province.

The destruction of the drone occurred in close proximity to a manned U.S. aircraft, according to the White House, which Trump said that the Iranians were wise to avoid attacking.

“There was a plane with 38 people yesterday. Did you see that? I think that's a big story. They had it in their sights, and they didn't shoot it down. I think they were very wise not to do that. And we appreciate that they didn't do that. I think that was a very wise decision,” Trump said on Saturday.