Donald Trump Launches Attack On Iranian Nuclear Sites

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A scenario that had been discussed for decades came to life early Sunday morning (local time) as American bombs rained down deep inside Iran. And the U.S. Air Force (USAF) made military history in carrying out the attack – which took place just nine days after Israel launched its attack against the Islamic Republic.

President Donald Trump announced via his Truth Social platform at 7:46 p.m. EDT on Saturday night that America had “completed our very successful attack on three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.”

He went on to say all U.S. warplanes had safely departed Iranian airspace after “a full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”

“Congratulations to our great American warriors,” Trump wrote. “There is not another military in the world that could have done this.”

Of special note: The strikes marked the first time B-2 stealth bombers have ever dropped the massive 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), commonly called the “bunker buster.” In addition to the B-2 flights over Iran, submarines launched several dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iranian nuclear sites.

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Of the three targets, the Fordow site was considered the most important for Iran’s nuclear weapon ambitions – and seems to have been the focus of the attacks.

“The strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump announced in brief televised remarks from the White House. Flanked by vice president JD Vance on one side and secretaries of state Marco Rubio and defense Pete Hegseth on the other, Trump added that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”

“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Trump continued. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater—and a lot easier.”

The White House said some members of congress were notified of the attack. One who wasn’t? U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has been adamant that such presidential action required congressional authorization.

“This is not Constitutional,” Massie wrote on X following Trump’s announcement of the strikes.

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Congressional Democrats also called last week for a vote authorizing strikes against Iran. The Trump administration clearly showed no interest in pursuing that course of action.

The military action came barely 48 hours after the White House announced the administration would decide on taking military action within two weeks. A furious round of back-channel communication was undertaken Friday and Saturday, according to multiple sources.

“Washington was reaching out to anyone who had a pipeline to Tehran,” one said. “There was no interest from the Iranians in resuming negotiations.”

“It was a massive head fake,” one analyst said.

Another was similarly blunt in his assessment: “Trump pulled off a classic ‘rope-a-dope’ by talking peace while actually preparing to pounce.”

The intelligence community is scrambling to determine how extensively the trio of nuclear sites was damaged. Additionally, analysts are keen to pinpoint what happened to the nuclear material Iran has enriched so far. Some wonder if enough of it survived the bombing, could it be smuggled to a small, previously unknown lab and be used to produce a small, tactical nuclear weapon?

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However, there is almost a unanimous consensus on one point.

“This is a very dangerous period,” was a phrase echoed over and over on TV networks’ breaking news coverage.

Iran had repeatedly said, as recently as Friday, that any direct strike waged by the U.S. would be met by attacks on American interests in retaliation. That message was reiterated early Sunday morning in Tehran.

“Mr. Trump, you started this,” a newscaster on Iranian state television noted. “Iran will end it.”

Later, the outlet reported that “every military citizen or military member is (now) a legitimate target.” 

Also worth noting: Israel has repeatedly discussed the possibility of regime change in Iran. To date, there has been no public sight of a popular uprising to overthrow the Islamic Republic. Now that the U.S. has inserted itself into the conflict, will that influence Iranians to rise up and overthrow the religious leaders who run their country? Or will it trigger “rally round the flag” feelings that could keep them in power?    

A question now of immense concern to Americans: Could there be attacks here in the U.S. homeland from sleeper cells already inside the country? 

According to reporter Ken Klippenstein, military personnel were briefed following the strikes that America’s entry into the Israel-Iran war “will likely result in counterstrikes on U.S. bases and facilities (in the Middle East) and likely activate Iran and other foreign terrorist organization’s cells abroad including the U.S. to conduct strikes against U.S. persons and facilities.”

If such scenarios unfold, how would Washington respond?  

These are pressing questions that deserve answers; answers that only time will tell.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.

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