President Trump on Tuesday said the US knows “exactly” where Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is hiding but is letting him live “for now,” as sources close to the administration say the commander-in-chief is heavily weighing whether to assist Israel in eliminating Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social. “He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
“But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump made his desires expressly clear just a short while later, posting to Truth Social: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
While Trump has not said whether he would send US forces to get directly involved in the conflict, sources in both the US and Israel tell The Post they suspect the president will act — and soon.
“As always, President Trump alone will make the call,” a source close to the Pentagon said Tuesday. “But judging from the number and directness of his social media postings to the remaining Iranian leaders, it looks 80% likely that the US will begin attacking key Iranian targets sometime before 8 p.m. ET tonight, since that is just before dawn in Tehran.”
Similarly, an Israeli official said Trump’s positioning of military assets in the region suggests the US is willing to help Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear sites.
Another Israeli source told The Post that Israel and the US has “reached a strategic window of opportunity” — where the parties have both the proper intelligence and weapons capabilities to wipe out Iran’s nuclear program.
While the president initially vetoed Israel’s plan over the weekend to take out Khamenei, both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have indicated that the nations are nearly done waiting for Tehran to give up its nuclear program.
Read the latest on the conflict between Israel and Iran
Netayahu on Monday night told ABC News that he was not ruling out killing Khamenei, if necessary.
“We are doing what we need to do,” the prime minister said.
Israel on Monday secured air superiority over Tehran, and Trump on Tuesday said “we” now have control over Iran’s entire airspace — seemingly indicating that the US and Israel are standing strongly together.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’”
“Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
