To confuse the world about his true intentions, US President Donald Trump issued a directive to his top aides that he would decide whether to take military action in Iran within two weeks, even though he had been strongly leaning towards doing so for several days.
As he prepared to have lunch with his former adviser Steve Bannon, who had openly questioned US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, Trump called for the statement to be released on Thursday. His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, soon followed the president’s instructions and entered the White House briefing room, indicating to the world that Trump had not yet made up his mind.
According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, the president was frustrated by reports that implied he had decided to strike Iranian nuclear sites and believed a two-week timeline could confuse the Iranians and hide his intentions.
Even as bombers were already in the air on Saturday, Trump’s aides thought he had made up his mind to attack in Iran for days. In addition to receiving numerous phone calls throughout the day, Trump was meeting in person with his top national security advisers every day and had previously been briefed on the attack plans.
Although top Trump administration officials maintain that the US and Iran are not at war, Trump has threatened to launch more attacks if Tehran does not make peace and suggested on Sunday night that regime change in Iran was a possibility.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s Sunday morning news conference, which described the US bombing on Iran, was somewhat reversed by Trump’s post on Truth Social. “This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth said.
The White House posted a schedule on Sunday night that stated Trump will meet with his national security team in the Oval Office on Monday. He doesn’t have any scheduled public appearances. Originally, the president was scheduled to attend Monday’s annual NATO summit, which was hosted in The Hague this year. He is now scheduled to depart on Tuesday for the meeting.
In his first comment following the US joining Israel’s attacks on Iran, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to fight “the Zionist enemy.”
Meanwhile, Mehr News Agency, a semi-official Iranian media outlet reported that the country has again activated its air defenses above Tehran in the early hours of Monday. According to an Israeli official, Iran fired a missile at his country early on Monday, but the country’s air defenses stopped it.