"It was a headfake": Inside Trump's secret orders to strike Iran

President Trump told the world last Thursday that he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to strike Iran.48 hours later, B-2 stealth bombers were whizzing through Iranian airspace — undetected — on a mission to cripple the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.Why it matters: Trump remained open to aborting the mission if a diplomatic window emerged. But his public countdown doubled as a smokescreen — concealing a strike plan that was already in motion, according to multiple officials."It was a headfake," a Trump adviser told Axios. "He knew the media couldn't resist amplifying it. He knew the Iranians might think he was bluffing. Well, everyone was wrong.""The president wanted to buy time," another adviser said. "He knew what he wanted to do. And he knows he can't look eager for war. So all the folks in MAGA urging restraint gave him some space."Driving the news: The bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities on Saturday marked the most direct and consequential U.S. military action against Iran since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979.Trump, who praised the operation as a "spectacular military success," came to the decision to join Israel's war after months of failed diplomacy — and one last secret effort to meet with Iranian officials last week.Once Trump decided Thursday that a military intervention was necessary, he tightly controlled the administration's messaging and narrowed the circle of people involved in the planning. Between the lines: As with many moments of geopolitical drama during Trump's two terms, his aides have gone to great lengths to emphasize an image of total command and decisive leadership."This wasn't a Pentagon operation. This was a Donald Trump operation," a senior administration official told Axios. "He came up with the PR. He chose the plans. He chose the day.""He's no Jimmy Carter," the official said, referencing the last time the U.S. tried direct military action in Iran: Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, a humiliating and failed hostage rescue mission. The complexity of Saturday's Operation Midnight Hammer — which amounted to the largest B-2 strike in U.S. history — required meticulous planning from the Pentagon that likely stretched back years. An operational timeline of the U.S. strike on Iran, presented by Pentagon leadership at a press briefing on Sunday. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesBehind the scenes: In the first days after Israel launched its unprecedented attack on Iran, Trump hoped a swift nuclear deal could end the war before it escalated further.From the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada last weekend, he began coordinating with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to arrange a high-level meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials in Istanbul.Trump was prepared to send Vice President J.D. Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff — or even travel himself to meet Iran's president, if that's what it would take to reach a deal.Vance and Witkoff had even started packing their bags, but it became clear on Monday afternoon that the meeting was not going to happen, senior U.S. official said.Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was in hiding over fears of assassination, couldn't be reached to authorize the talks — and constant Israeli airstrikes made it too dangerous for Iranian officials to leave the country."The president was ready to go forward with a strike if no diplomatic breakthrough took place. And as the week progressed, he realized that this was the case," a U.S. official told Axios.Zoom in: While still at the G7 summit, Trump gave the Pentagon the order to begin final planning work for a U.S. strike on Iran.On Tuesday, after cutting short his trip to Canada, he convened a Situation Room meeting with his top national security team.Trump pressed for details on the military plans, the reliability of the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, and the potential risks of the operation."The military and the Pentagon told the president they were sure it was going to work," a U.S. official said.On Friday afternoon, a day after suggesting the attack could be delayed, Trump gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the green-light to launch the B-2 bombers.Several hours later, the stealth bombers departed their base in Missouri. Some flew west as decoys. The real strike group headed east toward Iran, according to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.On Saturday afternoon, while still at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump was told the bombers were about to reach the point of no return — the moment they would go into full radio silence.The president gave the final go-ahead.Shortly after, Trump boarded Air Force One and flew back to Washington to be in the Situation Room as the first bombs hit their targets.Sitting in the Situation Room, the president saw that the media was still reporting he was undecided, a U.S. official said. That's when Trump grew confident the operation would be successful."In the end, it was everything. The timing was right. The Ayatollah gave Trump and the U.S. the middle finger. And that came with a price," said a Trump confidant who spoke with the president in recent days. Trump monitoring the strikes from the Situation Room. Photo courtesy of the White HouseThe intrigue: An extraordinarily small group of officials inside the Trump administration knew about the planned strike. "There were no leaks from the Pentagon or from the White House," a U.S. official said.Trump himself helped maintain the secrecy, using public statements to keep Washington, Tehran and the rest of the world guessing about his true intentions.On Thursday, he told reporters he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to join the war — signaling that a strike wasn't necessarily imminent.A U.S. official said the president was willing to abort the mission at any minute if he saw a diplomatic opening, but "his instinct at that point was to move forward with a strike."An Israeli official told Axios that by the time Trump made the "two weeks" comment, he had already decided to authorize military action — and knew exactly when it would happen.On Friday night, as the bombers were already in the air, Trump appeared upbeat and relaxed at his golf club in New Jersey."POTUS was having the time of his life. None of us had any idea that a bunch of bombers were already in the air ready to rain down hell," said one person who spoke with him that evening.What to watch: As the strike was underway, White House envoy Steve Witkoff sent a message to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to make clear that the operation was a one-off and limited strictly to Iran's nuclear program, a U.S. official told Axios.Witkoff, who has remained in direct contact with Araghchi throughout the crisis, emphasized that the U.S. still seeks a diplomatic resolution — and now wants Iran to return to the table following the destruction of its key enrichment sites, the official said.Several senior Trump officials, including Vance and Hegseth, stressed Sunday that the U.S. does not seek regime change in Iran and called on the Iranians to return to the negotiating table.The big picture: Multiple factors ultimately triggered Trump's decision to green-light the strike and go where no president has gone before, advisers told Axios.The CIA, working closely with Israeli intelligence, delivered fresh assessments on Iran's nuclear progress, though skepticism remains about whether Iran had made the formal decision to build a bomb.A damning International Atomic Energy Agency report underscored the urgency. And Israel's success in degrading Iranian air defenses created a window to act.The bottom line: Trump still wants a deal with Iran — and wanted one before the bombers took off, an adviser to the president told Axios."Once the B-2s were radio silent, it was too late," the source said. "But the phones are open now."

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