TIME: Trump told aides strike was “off” hours before launching Iran attack

On the day the United States launched strikes against Iran, US President Donald Trump shocked aides by declaring the operation canceled — a move officials now say was intended to prevent leaks — even though the attacks went ahead later that night, according to senior U.S. sources familiar with the planning told TIME. The strikes are part of a campaign that has been ongoing for five weeks.

Trump had traveled to Mar‑a‑Lago on February 27 and convened a makeshift Situation Room with a large group of aides and national security officials.

“He thought the group was too big,” one official recalled. At one point, the President snapped that the operation was off and said he would keep deliberating. But this was a “head fake,” a White House official said: Trump had already decided to strike that very night. Once the room cleared, he called back a smaller, trusted circle — “those he wanted beside him as the first bombs fell.”

The operation had been planned nearly a month in advance, with weeks of coordination, much of it in close consultation with Israeli counterparts, two senior U.S. officials told Time.

When the New York Times published details on February 17, Trump reportedly exploded at aides, unleashing “a string of profanities,” according to a senior administration official. He then told reporters he would decide on strikes within “10, 15 days,” even though U.S. forces were planning to attack much sooner.

“He was intentionally engaged in public misdirection to protect the mission,” a White House official said.

Among Trump’s inner circle, J.D. Vance had pushed hardest against the operation.

“J.D. really doesn’t like this,” Trump told the group gathered under the Palm Beach stars. “But when the decision is made, it’s a decision, right?”

By Sabina Mammadli