Israeli leaders convinced President Donald Trump to launch strikes on Iran with a plan some administration officials described as “farcical,” a new report claims.
U.S. cabinet officials such as CIA Director John Ratcliffe voiced skepticism of Israel’s plan for attack and regime change in Iran just weeks before the war began, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. However, Trump appeared to have already been sold on the plan after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Situation Room on Feb. 11.
The plan laid out by Israeli officials in a top-secret meeting at the White House included killing the ayatollah, weakening the regime and installing a secular leader to take over the nation. But several top officials, including Vice President JD Vance, doubted the possibility of the U.S. and Israeli forces to conduct a full regime change.
“Sir, this is, in my experience, standard operating procedure for the Israelis. They oversell, and their plans are not always well-developed. They know they need us, and that’s why they’re hard-selling,” Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine reportedly said in the Situation Room meeting the following day.
A man stands with an Iranian national flag along an intersection at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 6, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
“In other words, it’s bullshit,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly said.
Ratcliffe warned that such a goal was unpredictable at best, and called the Israeli plan “farcical.”
Trump remained set on killing the ayatollah and destroying the Iranian military anyway, NYT reported, adding that instituting a full regime change would not be the U.S.’s problem.
Furthermore, U.S. officials warned Trump that an attack on Iran would deplete the already strained stockpile of American weapons, including missile interceptors. While Israel promised Trump that they could smother Iranian operations before the Strait of Hormuz could be closed, Caine disagreed. Nevertheless, Trump believed the war on Iran would be short-lived, according to the NYT. (RELATED: US Reportedly Strikes Iran’s Kharg Island As Trump Threatens Consequences If Deal Isn’t Reached)
The U.S. and Israel began Operation Epic Fury against Iran on Feb. 28. Trump has since promised Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if the nation does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening.
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