Donald Trump told aides to announce two-week window for diplomacy to hide Iran strike plans: Sources

WASHINGTON, DC: Just days after announcing a two-week window to decide on military action against Iran, President Donald Trump launched a bold and covert attack, catching the world off guard.

According to sources, while the commander-in-chief publicly claimed he would take up to two weeks to make a decision, preparations for the attack were already underway behind the scenes, as reported by CNN. 

In a stunning turn, just 48 hours later on Saturday, June 21, B-2 stealth bombers pierced Iranian airspace undetected, targeting the nation's key nuclear sites.

Sources say Donald Trump's two-week timeline was a strategy to conceal Iran attack plans

In the days leading up to the US airstrikes on Iran, President Donald Trump had already set his sights on military action, even as he publicly signaled indecision, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Speaking to CNN, insiders revealed that Trump had instructed his senior aides to prepare for a potential strike while simultaneously telling the press he would make a decision “within two weeks.”

This statement, sources say, was part of a deliberate strategy to conceal his intentions and mislead both the media and Tehran.

Frustrated by media reports suggesting he had already committed to the operation, Trump believed that announcing a longer decision window might confuse Iranian officials and buy him the element of surprise.

He made the call to release the statement on Thursday, just before a lunch meeting with former adviser Steve Bannon, who had voiced skepticism about US military engagement in the Iran-Israel conflict. 

Not long after, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped into the White House briefing room and echoed Trump’s message, assuring the public that no final decision had been made.

She had said, "I have a message directly from the president, and I quote, 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.'"

However, behind the scenes, the operation was already well underway. While the official green light came Saturday as US bombers were en route, those close to the president say he had made up his mind days earlier.

Trump had been receiving detailed briefings on the mission and holding in-person meetings with his top national security officials daily, supplemented by frequent phone calls as final preparations took shape.

Donald Trump pursued diplomacy before ordering strikes on Iran

Just days before US bombers struck Iranian targets, Donald Trump made a final push for diplomacy, according to reports from Axios.

Reports revealed that Trump, in coordination with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attempted to facilitate back-channel talks between senior American and Iranian officials.

The initiative followed a phone conversation between the two leaders during the recent G7 summit in Canada, where Erdogan proposed an in-person meeting the very next day.

According to the report, Trump was already receiving informal signals that Tehran might be open to private negotiations. Plans for the proposed talks even included dispatching Vice President JD Vance and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to engage directly with Iranian counterparts.

However, the effort was derailed when Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly went into hiding due to fears of an assassination attempt, leaving no one with authority to greenlight the discussions, as per US officials.

Throughout his political career, Trump has cast himself as a global dealmaker capable of averting wars and bringing adversaries to the negotiating table. But when it came to Iran, the president ultimately concluded that military action was necessary to secure peace.