President Donald Trump declared he was hitting pause on a planned military attack against Iran on Monday, but his Truth Social post was also the first time the operation was revealed.
Fresh off his visit to China last week, Trump, 79, is back to dealing with the ongoing war he started in Iran.
The fragile ceasefire remains in place as the president struggles to reach a deal, but the president is now claiming there was an operation ready to go.
Trump wrote that he had been asked by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to “hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow.”
He claimed the request to hit pause had been made because “serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond.”
In the same lengthy sentence, Trump claimed the deal will “include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!”
At his event later on Monday, Trump said he was putting the attack on hold for “two or three days, a short period of time.”
The president has repeatedly insisted for weeks that the U.S. “won” the war with Iran and was closing in on a deal, but many of his claims that the agreement appeared imminent did not come to fruition.
Trump noted later on Monday that they’ve gotten close before without reaching a deal.
The president has also pushed back his own self-imposed deadline numerous times after claiming his war would only last weeks. It has now extended for more than two and a half months as Trump issues multiple threats in an effort to get an agreement.
Trump issued his latest threat in the same social media post in which he called off the Tuesday attack, writing that he instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine to “be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”
His post mentioning Hegseth came just hours after the defense secretary had stepped away from his official duties to hit the campaign trail in Kentucky.
In the hours leading up to Trump’s social media announcement Monday afternoon, he fired off 36 posts not about the war, but Tuesday’s primaries and his political endorsements.
However, before that, he did rattle off one post about the war in which he whined about the coverage he was getting.
“If Iran surrenders, admits their Navy is gone and resting at the bottom of the sea, and their Air Force is no longer with us, and if their entire Military walks out of Tehran, weapons dropped and hands held high, each shouting ‘I surrender, I surrender’ while wildly waving the representative White Flag, and if their entire remaining Leadership signs all necessary ‘Documents of Surrender’ and admit their defeat to the great power and force of the magnificent U.S.A., The Failing New York Times, The China Street Journal (WSJ!), Corrupt and now Irrelevant CNN, and all other members of the Fake News Media, will headline that Iran had a Masterful and Brilliant Victory over The United States of America, it wasn’t even close,” he wrote.
However, Iran has not admitted to defeat as shipping remains at a near standstill in the Strait of Hormuz amid fear of attacks. Oil prices remained elevated on Monday after Trump announced he was calling off the attack.
On Sunday, Trump insisted that the clock was ticking on Iran, and it needed to move fast “or there won’t be anything left.” However, he did not set a new timeline amid the whiplash from his and other top officials’ series of contradictory remarks.
