Trump knows 'exactly' where Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is hiding, but will let him live 'for now'
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell on Truth Social, revealing the US has eyes on Iran’s top leader.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump posted, referring to Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran. “He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Behind closed doors, the POTUS is reportedly mulling over whether to greenlight military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Donald Trump's 80-minute meeting in Situation Room
It all went down Tuesday, June 17, when Donald Trump convened a high-stakes, 80-minute huddle in the White House Situation Room, which began just after 2 pm. Sources told the New York Post that the POTUS is “heavily weighing” a response to Israel’s punishing strikes on Iran.
Among those inside the room were Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
According to a source familiar with the closed-door chats, Trump surrounds himself with people who “know what they’re talking about and are honest with him.”
Also in the mix was Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who’s been working overtime trying to coax Tehran into a deal before things spiral. But the news outlet confirmed that the meeting ended without any plans to negotiate, despite Trump earlier floating the idea of letting Witkoff and Vance take the lead on talks.
“As always, President Trump alone will make the call,” a Pentagon-connected source said.
Donald Trump wants 'real end' to Iran-Israel conflict
Earlier that day, Trump was asked about negotiations. He said he was “not too much in the mood to negotiate" and wants a “real end” to the Iran-Israel conflict instead.
Some inside sources on both sides of the Atlantic said that the countdown has already started. One American source gave an 80% chance that Trump would order airstrikes in support of Israel.
Over in Jerusalem, military assets are reportedly being positioned, and Israel and the US now have what one Israeli source called a “strategic window of opportunity” to deal a knockout blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Trump, meanwhile, is letting Khamenei sweat it out.
Tulsi Gabbard’s shift, JD Vance’s resistance and the GOP divide
Inside the Situation Room, it’s not all war hawks. Tulsi Gabbard—who’s been almost a permanent fixture in the West Wing since the conflict erupted June 13—is reportedly not fully sold on aggressive moves.
She wasn’t at Camp David on June 8 when Trump got tipped off that Israel’s strike was imminent, but she’s been deeply involved ever since.
Gabbard famously left the Democratic Party and backed Trump in last year’s election, mostly over foreign policy. Back in March, she publicly pushed back on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warnings, saying Iran wasn’t close to building a nuclear bomb.
The same goes for Vance. He was the voice of resistance when the US bombed Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen earlier this year. These two appear to stand out as representatives of Trump’s non-interventionist base, even as the broader GOP is split.
Meanwhile, Trump’s more traditionally hawkish allies Hegseth and Rubio are leaning into the idea that military force is the right move.
Over in Israel, Netanyahu told ABC News Monday night, “We are doing what we need to do.” When asked about the possibility of taking out Khamenei himself, the Israeli PM didn’t rule it out.
American bunker busters are ready
America has 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs—the kind that can collapse Iran’s underground nuclear sites far better than the 2,000-pounders Israel has been dropping, most of them US-made.
Over the weekend, Trump reportedly vetoed Israel’s proposal to take out Khamenei directly. But things might be changing quickly. Now, both Trump and Netanyahu seem to be signaling they’ve nearly run out of patience waiting for Tehran to scrap its nuclear program.
Trump reminded everyone who’s got the upper hand in the skies in a post on Tuesday.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” he wrote. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American-made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
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