Vice President JD Vance overcame his longstanding objections to U.S. military interventions in the Middle East and persuaded President Donald Trump to expand his offensive against Iran, according to news reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been working for months to steer the 79-year-old president onto the path of war against what he argued was a weakened regime, and the foreign leader worked Feb. 11 during an Oval Office meeting to make sure diplomatic talks with Iran did not undermine the secret military plans the U.S. and Israel had been developing for weeks, reported the New York Times.
"In public, Mr. Trump appeared to take a circuitous path to military action, alternating between saying that he wanted to strike a deal with Iran’s government and that he wanted to topple it," the Times reported. "He made little effort to try to convince the American public that a war was necessary now. And the limited case he and his aides made included false claims about the imminence of the threat that Iran posed to the United States."
Trump warmed up to the idea of attacking Iran following the successful U.S. operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January, and few members of his inner circle spoke up against a military offensive – although there was some disagreement over the best plan of action.
"On Feb. 18, on an unseasonably warm day in Washington, Mr. Vance; Mr. Rubio; John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director; and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, gathered with Mr. Trump in the Situation Room to discuss military planning," the Times reported.
"During the meeting, [Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan] Caine discussed an array of options, among them that U.S. forces could carry out a limited strike as a way to push Iran in the negotiations, or a larger campaign with the goal of toppling the government," the report added. "The latter option in particular, he said, carried high risk of American casualties, could destabilize the region and significantly deplete stocks of American munitions."
Caine stressed that all of those operations would be far more successful than the capture of Maduro, but Vance argued against a narrow operation despite his apparent skepticism of the entire matter.
"For his part, Mr. Vance, who appeared to personally lean against military attacks, argued that a limited strike was a mistake," the Times reported. "If the United States was going to hit Iran, he told the group, it should 'go big and go fast.'"
After the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that Caine had told him military action against Iran would be “something easily won," and other administration officials made similarly misleading claims during a Feb. 24 private session with the so-called Gang of Eight leaders of the House and Senate and heads of intelligence committees.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio made no mention that the Trump administration was considering regime change, according to people familiar with his comments," the Times reported.
Trump gave the order to attack three days later while flying on Air Force One to an event in Corpus Christi, Texas, with actor Dennis Quade.
“Operation Epic Fury is approved,” Mr. Trump said, according to the Times. “No aborts. Good luck.”