‘It was a ruse’: Inside Trump’s war room; how ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ against Iran was planned

US President Donald Trump in The Situation Room, June 21, 2025 (Pic credit score: White House)

In a transfer that marks a dramatic escalation in US-Iran tensions, American President Donald Trump ordered a high-precision army strike on Iranian nuclear services on Saturday, authorising the primary main US army motion on Iranian soil because the fall of the American-backed Shah in 1979.The operation, carried out by a small fleet of US B-2 stealth bombers, was planned beneath intense secrecy and executed simply hours after Trump returned from his New Jersey golf membership to the White House. In basic Trump trend, he introduced the strike minutes after it concluded, “Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!.“Photo: Inside Trump’s war room – a secretive, surgical assaultThe White House later launched tightly managed pictures from the labeled Situation Room, exhibiting Trump, sporting his signature purple MAGA hat, flanked by his war cupboard. CIA director John Ratcliffe, protection secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House chief of employees Susie Wiles had been current, although nationwide intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard was conspicuously lacking, amid rumours of inside friction.

US President Donald Trump in The Situation Room, June 21, 2025 (Pic credit score: White House)

Photos blurred key paperwork on the desk, echoing the Obama-era photographs of the 2011 Bin Laden raid. But the place Obama’s pictures prompt deliberation and calm, Trump’s leaned into theatrics—half documentation, half spectacle, all calculated for impression.

US President Donald Trump in The Situation Room, June 21, 2025 (Pic credit score: White House)

A strike months within the making, publicly denied till the final hourThough Trump projected uncertainty all week, publicly musing on whether or not he would possibly “take two weeks” to resolve, the inner gears of war had been already in movement. By Thursday, he had accredited detailed assault plans. By early Saturday morning, seven B-2s had been already airborne.“It was a ruse,” a senior administration official admitted, in line with The Washington Post. Only a tight circle of aides had been learn in: VP JD Vance, CIA chief Ratcliffe, protection secretary Hegseth, nationwide safety envoy Steve Witkoff, and secretary of state Marco Rubio, amongst others. Some within the broader White House equipment had been at midnight till the bombs had already fallen.The closing choice, it appears, was not a lot a second as a temper.Trump’s two-week bluff? Trump’s declare that he would possibly take “two weeks” to resolve on putting Iran was a calculated deception, designed to throw Tehran off steadiness. Behind the scenes, nevertheless, the choice had already been made, and stealth bombers had been getting ready for takeoff. A senior administration official later admitted the delayed speak was “our attempt to throw the Iranians off guard,” although there was “some truth” to it, in line with The Washington Post. The public indecision masked a fast-moving, tightly held operation that unfolded simply 36 hours later.Iran’s purple line: Nuclear enrichmentAt the center of the battle: Iran’s refusal to halt its nuclear gasoline enrichment program, a difficulty that has vexed American presidents for many years. In Geneva final week, European diplomats met with Iran’s international minister Abbas Araghchi, however the talks stalled. Tehran would not budge except the bombing stopped. Trump, in flip, would not cease except Iran surrendered its nuclear future.This time, the ultimatum got here with an unmistakable menace: Trump warned Tehran to “immediately evacuate” and instructed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that “he could be next.”Despite the bombast, Trump by no means spoke to Iranian officers instantly. Instead, Witkoff held backchannel negotiations. Trump’s demand: zero enrichment, full dismantlement. Iran’s reply: no.Behind the scenes: Friction, fundraisers, and the MAGA war roomWhile B-2s sped throughout the Atlantic, Trump wasn’t in a bunker, he was at a fundraiser. Vice President JD Vance was flying again from California. The air of normalcy masked the approaching shockwave.But contained in the Situation Room, the president’s loyal cadre assembled. Among them: social media gatekeeper Dan Scavino, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and even AG Pam Bondi, who hadn’t been concerned within the planning however was introduced in on the eleventh hour.

Top US officers in The Situation Room, June 21, 2025 (Pic credit score: White House)

Outside the federal government, Trump’s populist whisperers, Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, and Jack Posobiec, had been saved within the loop to shore up political backing. The strike wasn’t simply a army message, it was a marketing campaign second within the making.“He was listening to people across the ideological perspective” of his political base, The Washington Post quoted the senior administration official. “Ultimately, the president felt this is a decision the base should support and get behind, because ultimately, he’s preventing a conflict that very well could have happened if the supreme leader instructed Iran to create the nuclear weapon,” he added. Global fallout and strategic calculationsThe strike was timed exactly, coming simply days after Israel launched its personal offensive against Iran on June 13. By midweek, Israeli air dominance helped tilt US army calculations towards optimism.Ret. Lt. Gen. Charlie “Tuna” Moore put it bluntly: “Although we could have executed our operation unilaterally, without a doubt it was beneficial to the United States to have that as the predicate.”Even VP Vance, who had privately raised issues, in the end signed off. His Iraq War expertise made him cautious, however not obstructionist. “He wanted the tires kicked,” one official mentioned.”

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A calculated gambleIn the end, Trump’s decision marked a sharp pivot from decades of American hesitation. Every president since Carter has baulked at the idea of a full strike on Iranian territory. Trump just did it.Whether it stabilises or further inflames the region remains to be seen.Rubio has begun briefing European allies post-strike. Iran, for now, is unlikely to let this go unanswered.In Sunday interviews, Vance admitted no one truly knew when Trump made the call, not even him.“I do not know that any of us knew precisely when the president made the choice aside from the president himself,” he said on “Meet the Press.”