In the final week of February, as the United States and Israel moved toward war, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff made one last attempt at diplomacy. Calling from Geneva after the latest round of negotiations with Iranian officials, they laid out the picture for Donald Trump: they could probably reach a deal, but it would take months, according to a New York Times investigation, "Hvylya" reports.
Over three rounds of negotiations in Oman and Switzerland, Kushner and Witkoff had tested Iran's willingness to make a deal that would block its path to nuclear weapons. At one point, they offered Tehran free nuclear fuel for the life of its program - a test of whether Iran's insistence on enrichment was truly about civilian energy or about preserving the ability to build a bomb. The Iranians rejected the offer, calling it an assault on their dignity.
Kushner told the president that if Trump was asking whether they could look him in the eye and tell him they could solve the problem, it was going to take a lot to get there, because the Iranians were playing games. Trump had effectively made up his mind weeks earlier, several advisers said, but he had not yet decided exactly when to act.
New intelligence accelerated the timeline. The ayatollah would be meeting above ground with other top officials in broad daylight - a fleeting chance to strike at the heart of Iran's leadership that might not present itself again. Netanyahu urged Trump to move fast.
On Thursday, Feb. 26, at around 5 p.m., the final Situation Room meeting got underway. By then, every position in the room was clear. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued they would have to deal with the Iranians eventually, so they might as well do it now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio drew a line: if the goal was regime change, they should not proceed, but if it was destroying Iran's missile program, that was achievable. White House counsel David Warrington said that as a Marine veteran, the issue was deeply personal. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Trump that if he felt this was necessary for national security, he should go ahead.
"I think we need to do it," the president told the room. The next afternoon, aboard Air Force One, 22 minutes before Gen. Dan Caine's deadline, Trump sent the order: "Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck."