From the Liveblog of
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Ahead of strikes, Trump was told Iran attack is high risk, high reward
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Ahead of the US attack on Iran, US President Donald Trump received briefings that not only delivered blunt assessments about the risk of major US casualties but also touted the prospect of a generational shift in the Middle East in favor of US interests, a US official tells Reuters.
The launch of what the Pentagon called “Operation Epic Fury” plunged the Middle East into a new and unpredictable conflict. The US and Israeli militaries struck sites across Iran, triggering retaliatory Iranian attacks against Israel and nearby Gulf Arab countries.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the briefers described the operation to the president as a high-risk, high-reward scenario.
The briefings from Trump’s national security team help explain how the president decided to pursue arguably the riskiest US military operation since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Ahead of the strikes, Trump received multiple briefings from officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, US General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On Thursday, Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US forces in the Middle East as the head of Central Command, flew to Washington to join discussions in the White House Situation Room.
A second US official says that prior to the strikes, the White House had been briefed on a number of risks associated with operations against Iran, including retaliatory strikes on multiple US bases in the region by Iranian missiles that could overwhelm defenses, as well as Iranian proxies attacking US troops in Iraq and Syria.
The Times of Israel Community.