The Associated Press reported a step-by-step account of how President Donald Trump’s dissatisfaction with Iran nuclear negotiations transitioned into an order for military action, and how U.S. forces moved from planning into execution.
In the late afternoon on Feb. 27, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was not happy with the way nuclear talks with Iran were going. When asked whether he had made a final decision on what to do next, he said, “No, I haven’t,” according to the AP’s account. About three hours later, he issued the order to launch an operation described by the Pentagon as “Epic Fury,” the AP said.
About 3:38 p.m. EST, Trump was then traveling to Texas aboard Air Force One when he gave the order, AP reported. Gen. Dan Caine later told reporters that Caine had been directed to relay the president’s instruction, saying the order set up every element of joint U.S. forces preparing for final strike rehearsals—while air defense batteries readied themselves and pilots and crews practiced their strike packages for the final time.
Caine said the order was followed by the movement of U.S. carrier strike groups toward their launching points and by steps including air crews loading their final weapons. He also described the operation as involving thousands of service members from all branches, hundreds of advanced fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, dozens of refueling tankers, and the Lincoln and Ford carrier strike groups with their embarked air wings, AP reported.
During the nearly three-hour flight to Corpus Christi, the AP said Trump asked a small group of Republican lawmakers for feedback on whether to keep negotiating or proceed with a strike. The group debated the merits of continuing talks versus launching action, and AP reported that the general sentiment among lawmakers present was that the talks were largely a delay tactic, according to a person familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.
After landing in Texas, Trump again told reporters that he was “not happy” with how the nuclear talks were going, the AP reported, but he did not indicate that an operation had been approved. He also declined to provide details when asked how close he was to making a decision, saying, “I’d rather not tell you,” and adding, “You would have had the greatest scoop in history, right? Yeah.”
Following the order, U.S. Central Command released videos showing missiles being fired and jets taking off, AP reported, describing the strikes as intended “to dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus.” Other military footage showed U.S. munitions striking targets described as ranging from drones to buildings, as the operation moved forward on the timeline Caine described.
Caine said the operation began with what he described as synchronized, layered effects delivered “across every domain — land, air, sea, cyber,” designed to disrupt, degrade, deny and destroy Iran’s ability to conduct and sustain combat operations on the U.S. side. At a Pentagon briefing, Caine also said munitions and fuel supplies kept flowing with support from intelligence and surveillance, and that more forces were still flowing into the region, AP reported.
The AP described the strikes as including an account of three strikes in three locations within a single minute, with an Israeli military official saying the strikes killed Khamenei and around 40 senior figures. In Tehran, explosions were heard, and Israel’s defense minister declared a state of emergency, AP said, as the operation unfolded during the early hours.
Trump publicly announced Khamenei’s death on Truth Social shortly after the strikes began, saying the supreme leader was “unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems,” AP reported. The AP also reported that Trump’s comments continued to expand on the operational results in subsequent posts, including claims about destroying or sinking Iranian naval ships and the scope of targeting.
On March 2, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon that the U.S. was not engaged in a nation-building effort in Iran and that ongoing strikes would not be “the prelude to a long, sustained conflict,” AP reported. Hegseth said, “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” and added, “This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it,” according to the AP account. In the region, multiple countries took defensive postures, AP reported, while global markets reacted to disruptions and uncertainty tied to the Strait of Hormuz.