US President Donald Trump was actively pursuing nuclear diplomacy with Iran while military plans for the attack were being finalized, according to a new book that details how the negotiations broke down and the attacks that followed.“Regime Change”, written by New York Times journalists Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, portrays a president who refused to abandon a deal until the end.But as talks stalled, Trump became convinced that Iran was weak. He told advisers that he had a “good feeling” about military action and, the authors write, “wanted to wipe out the regime and figure out the details later.”
Netanyahu gave a strong push to Trump
The book reveals that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aggressively lobbied Trump to take action, arguing that Iran had never been so weak. He presented a four-step plan: behead Iran’s leadership, destroy its military, overthrow the regime, and install a new government.Netanyahu showed Trump a video of what Iran might look like after the revolution and suggested exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi as a possible leader. Trump liked what he saw but had doubts about the subsequent steps, reportedly concluding that regime change would be “their problem”. The book does not make clear who “they” refers to.
Top US officials reject Netanyahu’s plan
Trump’s national security team was not convinced. CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly called Netanyahu’s approach “ridiculous”. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was even more blunt, saying during a meeting: “In other words, this is nonsense.”Rubio argued against targeting regime change. If the objective was to destroy Iran’s missile program, he said, “that’s a goal we can achieve.”
final status room meeting
One of the book’s most dramatic scenes occurs in the final Situation Room meeting before the strike. Ratcliffe provided intelligence to Trump that Iran’s senior leadership was expected to gather at Khamenei’s compound. If regime change meant killing Khamenei, Ratcliffe reportedly told the president, “We could probably do that.”Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Kane warned that a prolonged conflict could deplete the US weapons stockpile, strain missile defenses already expanded by Ukraine and Israel and put US forces at risk.Vice President J.D. Vance, the administration’s most vocal opponent of military action, reiterated his objections but said he would support Trump if he decided to proceed. Sources familiar with Vance’s concerns told the authors that he warned that war could break Trump’s political coalition and alienate voters who had supported him on a promise not to wage new wars.
Diplomacy continued almost until the attack
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner remained in talks with Iranian officials in Oman and Switzerland until the final days. One proposal offered Iran free nuclear fuel for its civilian program for life, a test to see whether Tehran’s enrichment efforts were about energy or weapons.Witkoff and Kushner concluded that Iran was hindering Trump’s chances of remaining in office. This led to the belief that presidential diplomacy had done its job and Trump had to give the final order.Trump made up his mind after listening to his advisers. “I think we need to do that,” he said.While traveling to Texas he gave the final orders the next afternoon.Seventeen days after the battle, the writers found Trump in the Oval Office with printouts of maple trees spread out on his desk instead of military maps. He told them, “I’m ordering trees for the White House.” “I know how to buy good trees. Maple.”