“My administration will not telegraph exact military plans to the enemy,” then-candidate Donald Trump said on Aug. 15, 2016 — less than three months before he was elected president.

“I have often said that Gen. [Douglas] MacArthur and Gen. [George] Patton would be in a state of shock if they were alive today to see the way President Obama and [former Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton try to recklessly announce their every move before it happens – like they did in Iraq – so that the enemy can prepare and adapt,” Trump said in 2016…

Yet, by moving U.S. Navy ships Thursday into combat positions and launching American military aircraft and then declaring on Twitter Friday he had called off missile launches just 10 minutes before they were scheduled, Trump showed the posture the military takes when when it is about to strike.

Though he did not give away the timing of planned strikes during public comments, Iranian leaders could have gleaned intelligence about U.S. ship and aircraft tactics and their capabilities before Trump issued the cancel order.