In the immediate aftermath of Israel's airstrike offensive inside Iran on Thursday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Israel had taken "unilateral action" against the terror state, a statement that implied the United States' hands-off role despite knowing about and green-lighting the operation, Axios reported Friday.
President Donald Trump, in fact, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that the U.S. was given more than just a heads-up; "we know what's going on," he said.
Israeli officials took it a step further, telling Axios they had the "green light" from the Trump administration.
While the U.S. did not play a role militarily in Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, scientists and senior military leadership, Axios reported that Trump and the administration were part of a ruse/coordination call with Israel on Monday. The goal was to outfox Iran into thinking that Trump didn't approve of military action in order to keep Israel's top targets inside Iran from relocating, according to the report.
It worked. Israel attacked Iran overnight with a barrage of airstrikes that eliminated top military officers and scientists, and hit nuclear and missile sites. At least 20 senior Iranian commanders, including the head of the revolutionary guards, Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were killed.
Trump told the Journal on Friday he had tried to warn Iran about the urgency to sign a new nuclear weapons agreement.
"I told the other side, I said, you have 60 days to make the deal. On the 61st day, they attacked. Today is 61 actually, and it was a very successful attack," Trump said. "They should have made a deal and they still can make a deal while they have something left — they still can."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.