Trump rejected more Iran strikes after minimal damage to nuclear sites in first wave, new report says
The president reportedly halted the new wave of airstrikes after an assessment found that two of the three sites targeted in last month's cruise-missile and bunker-buster bombs attack sustained only minimal damage, according to five current and former officials cited by NBC News.
The sources said that U.S. Central Command had drafted a far more expansive plan to strike Iran that included targeting three additional sites and unfolding over several weeks, rather than in a single night.
Trump allegedly rejected the plan because it conflicted with his America First agenda, favored by high-profile conservative figures such as Tucker Carlson, which involves pulling the U.S. out of foreign wars and a potential for higher casualties on both sides, two sources said.
The report was commissioned as part of the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to assess the status of Iran's nuclear program, after the president claimed the U.S. military 'obliterated' uranium enrichment sites Fordo and Natanz and the major research facility at Isfahan.
Some U.S. lawmakers, Defense Department officials, and allied countries were briefed on the report in recent days, four of the sources said.
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