President Donald Trump approved preparations for military strikes against Iran—fully aware that dozens of more Iranians might die as a result, two senior Trump administration officials and another source familiar with the situation tell The Daily Beast.
To many observers, including some in his own administration, this appeared to be at odds with Trump’s account of Thursday’s deliberations; the president claimed that he abruptly halted the attack minutes before it was set to occur.
In a series of tweets on Friday morning, the president stated that the U.S. military was “cocked and loaded” on Thursday night to hit Iran before he changed his mind, stating that “10 minutes before the strike” he stopped it after being informed by “a General” of the potential loss of 150 lives.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.