On Friday, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, gave himself two weeks to consider what to do regarding Iran. He needed less than 48 hours to decide. This Saturday afternoon, early morning in Spain, he formally entered into war, ordering the attack, the first in 45 years, hand in hand with Israel and with the aim of destroying nuclear capabilities.
"We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. All aircraft are now out of Iranian airspace. A full load of bombs was dropped on the main facility, Fordow. All aircraft have returned home safe and sound. Congratulations to our great American warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this,. IT IS NOW TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter," he wrote on his social media.
The attack, for which he did not provide specific details but was imagined with 15-ton bombs to penetrate the ground and destroy underground facilities, marks the first since the Iranian revolution of 1979, and an act of war for which theoretically he needs authorization from Congress. Republican leaders have rushed to applaud the measure, while Democrats denounce illegality. Congressman Mike Johnson and Senator John Thune, leaders of both chambers, praised the military operation, calling it a necessary deterrent to Iran's ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon, indicating that they had been informed in advance. Their rivals on the other side of the spectrum, however, have demanded "clear answers." "President Trump misled the country about his intentions, did not seek congressional authorization for the use of military force, and risks involving the United States in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East," reacted Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader. "The president will assume full and complete responsibility for any adverse consequences resulting from his unilateral military action," he added.
After the bombing, Trump appeared at the White House accompanied by his Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also temporarily the National Security Advisor. In his address, he said that the attacks that night were "a success." "Our goal was to destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capability and stop the nuclear threat posed by the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," he added.
Until now, the United States had imposed harsh sanctions, cyberattacks, covert operations, and had provided all kinds of information and means to Israel to try to halt the Israeli nuclear program, but had never dared to strike directly. A risk considered enormous, unmanageable, by his predecessors from both parties, who feared it would set the entire region on fire and provoke uncontrollable reactions from regional allies. Washington has explained to all its allies that the bombing is not a declaration of war, but it will be difficult to convince Tehran of that. And that it does not respond against the tens of thousands of American soldiers in the area.
"Our goal was to destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capability and stop the nuclear threat from the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier." he stated.
Although he was theoretically seriously considering whether or not to involve his country in another war in the Middle East, something he has always disavowed and campaigned against for reelection, the decision was practically made days ago, after Israel said it would not back down. American media have reported on tense calls between senior officials from both governments this Saturday, especially with Vice President Vance opposing. But Trump has decided to ignore the critics, the reluctant, and has enthusiastically given the green light.
Steve Bannon, the great guru of the MAGA universe, completely opposed to the attack, had taken it for granted hours earlier, lamenting that the "party had started" and warning that this, one way or another, "is the beginning of World War III." Two days earlier, he had dined with Trump to try, in vain, to convince him not to do it.
It is undoubtedly a momentous decision, politically and philosophically divisive within his own government and the MAGA movement. A step that none of his predecessors had dared to take, despite Israel, and specifically Benjamin Netanyahu, publicly stating since at least 1996 that Iran is on the verge of obtaining the atomic bomb and an imminent attack was necessary.
In a brief intervention, without questions, the president added that "for 40 years, Iran has been saying: 'Death to America, death to Israel!' They have been killing our people, cutting off their arms and legs with bombs on the roads. That was their specialty. We lost more than 1000 people and hundreds of thousands in the entire Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hatred. I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel."
The president reiterated that he hopes not to have to use his aviation again, urging Iran to surrender and sign peace, insisting that without their air defenses, the next bombings will be worse and unstoppable. "there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago."