Reuters, citing U.S. government officials, reported that U.S. President Donald Trump received a national security briefing on the 28th local time ahead of the airstrikes on Iran, saying the operation could be a "high risk, high reward" move for the United States. According to Reuters, Trump was told there was a possibility of mass U.S. military casualties and that the operation could bring a "generational shift" toward a Middle East order favorable to the United States.
The military operation, which the U.S. Department of Defense named "Operation Epic Fury," began at about 1 a.m. Eastern with Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the sea and airstrikes by Air Force and Navy fighter jets. The United States attacked Iran together with Israel, after which Iran launched retaliation against Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
In a video address released early that morning, President Trump acknowledged the possibility of casualties, saying "brave American heroes may lose their lives." He added, "We are doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission," and "We pray for all our service members."
Reuters assessed that the operation could be the most dangerous U.S. military mission since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Before the strikes, Trump was reportedly briefed multiple times by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. On the 26th, Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command overseeing U.S. forces in the Middle East, also joined discussions in the White House Situation Room.
U.S. government officials said the White House received briefings before the strikes on the possibility of Iranian retaliation, the risk of missile attacks on U.S. bases in the region, and scenarios of attacks on U.S. forces by pro-Iran elements in Iraq and Syria. They also said that although the United States surged significant military assets into the area, the hastily deployed air defense systems had limitations.
Experts say Iran possesses a range of retaliatory tools, including ballistic missiles, drones and cyberattacks, raising the prospect that the conflict could escalate in more dangerous ways. Some also say that even if Trump urged the Iranian people to overthrow the regime, it would be difficult to realize.
Nicole Grajewski of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, "Iran's opposition is quite fractured," adding, "It is unclear to what extent the public is willing to rise up." Daniel Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel and a senior Middle East official at the Defense Department, said, "Iran has more ballistic missiles than the United States has interceptor missiles," adding, "Some Iranian weapons will punch through the defenses." He called the airstrikes "a major gamble."