Operation Midnight Hammer: How Trump Rewrote Middle East History

President Donald Trump’s decision to launch U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025, marked a pivotal moment in Middle East tensions, executed with a blend of military precision and political misdirection. Drawing on detailed accounts from White House officials, Pentagon sources, Trump allies, and media reports, this article unravels how Trump shifted from caution to action, orchestrating a complex operation dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer” while keeping allies, adversaries, and even his own staff guessing.

The Prelude: Israel’s Strike and Trump’s Pivot

On June 13, 2025, Israel launched a series of precision strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military targets, killing key figures, including Major General Hossein Salami of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and destroying strategic weapons sites. Initially, Trump distanced himself, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating on June 13, “Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran.” Trump had spent months warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against such moves, wary of entanglement in a Middle East war, influenced by noninterventionists like Stephen K. Bannon, according to The New York Times.

Israel’s success changed Trump’s stance. By June 13, he was privately marveling to advisers about the “brilliant” operation, calling it “excellent” and “very successful” to reporters and hinting at deeper U.S. involvement, per The New York Times. He asked an ally how the strikes were “playing,” signaling a growing appetite for action. Trump’s fixation on Fordow, Iran’s uranium-enrichment facility buried under a mountain south of Tehran, emerged early, with discussions about deploying 30,000-pound GBU-57 “bunker-buster” bombs, exclusive to the U.S. arsenal, per administration sources.

Iran’s Defiance and Diplomatic Dead End

Trump’s shift was cemented by Iran’s rejection of his April 2025 “ultimate ultimatum,” demanding a complete halt to uranium enrichment, issued after stalled European-led talks. International Atomic Energy Agency reports from May and June 2025 revealed Iran had enough 60% enriched uranium for up to 10 nuclear bombs within weeks, with implosion tests indicating a “cold test” was imminent, per a video transcript. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who called Israel a “cancerous tumor” to be “cut,” and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who on June 20 declared no negotiations under attack, showed no willingness to compromise, per The Washington Post.

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, continued diplomatic talks with Iran, while European officials met Araghchi in Geneva on June 20. A senior diplomat involved told The Washington Post the talks yielded “no interest from Iran at all,” confirming White House expectations of a diplomatic dead end. By June 17, Trump was convinced a strike was necessary, though he reserved the right to abort until planes entered Iranian airspace, per a senior administration official.

The Ruse: Misdirection and Military Prep

Trump’s public statements sowed confusion. On June 16, he posted on Truth Social, “Everyone should evacuate Tehran!” and on June 17, claimed, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” These alarmed Pentagon and U.S. Central Command officials, who called him the “biggest threat to opsec” (operational security), per The New York Times. To counter this, planners devised a deception: on June 21, one group of B-2 bombers from Whiteman Air Base, Missouri, flew west toward Guam with traceable transponders, while seven others, transponders off, headed east to Iran undetected, per General Dan Caine’s Pentagon briefing.

On June 19, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Trump might take “two weeks” to decide on a strike, a deliberate feint to “throw the Iranians off guard,” per a senior official cited by The Washington Post. Military preparations were already advanced, with refueling tankers and fighter jets repositioned and U.S. forces in the region bolstered, per The New York Times. The “two weeks” statement, dictated before Trump’s June 19 lunch with Bannon, bought time while suggesting no imminent attack, despite Trump’s near-final decision by June 17.

Internal Tensions and Public Posturing

Inside the administration, factions clashed. Vice President JD Vance, an Iraq War veteran skeptical of U.S. wars, urged caution, ensuring risks to U.S. forces were minimized, per The Washington Post. By June 20, Vance supported Trump’s plan, posting on social media that Trump “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” defending the decision while warning against broader entanglement, per The New York Times. Bannon and Charlie Kirk, anti-interventionists, visited the White House, but hawkish voices like Mark Levin and Fox News’ coverage, praising Israel’s strikes, held greater sway, per administration officials.

Trump monitored polls showing Americans opposed war with Iran but feared its nuclear ambitions, shaping his focus on a targeted strike, per The New York Times. He grew furious at Tucker Carlson’s anti-war commentary, lamenting Carlson’s absence from Fox News, and was annoyed when The Wall Street Journal reported he had greenlit preparations, per The New York Times. White House officials kept in touch with Trump’s base, including Bannon, Kirk, and Jack Posobiec, to gauge support, per The Washington Post.

Operation Midnight Hammer

On June 21, at 5 p.m. EDT, Trump, at his Bedminster, N.J., club, ordered the strike, per The New York Times. At 2:10 a.m. Iran time on June 22, seven B-2s dropped 14 GBU-57 bombs on Fordow, while U.S. submarines fired 30 Tomahawk missiles at Natanz and Isfahan, per General Caine. Fighter jets suppressed Iran’s air defenses, and no U.S. aircraft faced fire. The operation, highly classified with few in Washington aware of its timing, involved key figures in the Situation Room, including Vance, Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, and others, per The Washington Post.

At 7:50 p.m. EDT on June 21, Trump announced the strike on Truth Social, claiming it “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, though officials later said the facilities were severely damaged, not destroyed, with Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium stockpile’s location unclear, per The New York Times. A Maxar Technologies satellite image showed significant damage at Fordow, per The New York Times.

Iran’s Retaliation and Regional Fallout

Iran retaliated on June 23 with 6-7 ballistic missiles, hitting near a “strategic” electrical facility in southern Israel, cutting power to 8,000 customers, per The Times of Israel. Energy Minister Eli Cohen promised restoration within three hours, while Defense Minister Israel Katz announced IDF strikes on Tehran’s regime targets, vowing punishment for attacks on Israel’s home front, per Amichai Stein’s report. Shrapnel was found in Beit Shemesh, per Israeli media.

Iran spread an AI-generated image of a “crashed” B-2, mocked online as “AI garbage” from “Pakistani like farms,” per Walla Technology. Reports also emerged of Iran building a new underground nuclear reactor and power outages in northern Tehran from IDF strikes, per Israeli media. Trump’s strike drew praise from allies, but he hinted at broader aims, posting on Truth Social, “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’” suggesting a shift if Iran’s leadership faltered, per The New York Times.

A High-Stakes Gamble

Trump’s operation, a turnabout from his 2019 aborted strikes on Iran, delayed Tehran’s nuclear threat but risked escalation. Vance and Rubio stressed regime change was not the goal, per The Washington Post, but Trump’s rhetoric left the door open. As the region braces for Iran’s next move, the strike stands as a genius and audacious gamble, executed with deception, that reshaped the Middle East’s fragile balance.

Sources: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Walla Technology, The Times of Israel liveblog