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Agence France-Presse

On a visit to Texas on Friday, US President Donald Trump gave a raucous speech on the economy and then stopped off at a fast-food joint.
“Hamburgers for everyone!” Trump declared to cheering customers at the Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, before the 47th president left clutching a bag with order No 47.
Nine hours later, in the dead of night, Trump announced from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that he had ordered the start of a major attack against Iran.
It was the culmination of a series of feints and bluffs in the preceding hours and days as the former reality television star kept the world guessing.
The smokescreen even featured daily schedules that appeared to leave time for weekend golf games and announcements of meetings for his senior officials.

Perhaps the weekend at Mar-a-Lago should have been the giveaway.
It was, after all, from his weekend getaway that Trump also launched the toppling of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, instead of from the White House.
But while the massive US military build-up in the Middle East had made military action look all but certain, the 79-year-old Republican repeatedly gave conflicting signals.
Speculation had mounted that he might use the first State of the Union speech of his second term, before Congress on Tuesday, to announce an attack.
His eventual remarks called for a diplomatic solution – but also set out the case for war, including the contention that Iran was developing missiles capable of hitting the US homeland.
The mixed messages kept coming after US and Iranian officials met in Geneva on Thursday.
Across the Trump administration, every effort was made to project a business-as-usual look.


The White House issued Trump’s schedule for the weekend, containing his Texas trip followed by a weekend at Mar-a-Lago, featuring a “Make America Great Again” fundraising dinner.
The largely empty schedule appeared to leave plenty of spare time – much of which would, on a normal weekend, be filled by Trump playing golf at his nearby club.
The US State Department announced on Friday that Marco Rubio would hold talks on Monday in Israel, leading some observers to conclude this meant any potential strike would be held off at least until afterwards.
The only glitch in the matrix: Rubio was not planning to bring any reporters on his plane, in a rare break with decades of precedent for US secretaries of state.
The State Department announced after the strike on Saturday that the trip had been cancelled.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance, meanwhile, met with the foreign minister of Oman, a key mediator between the US and Iran, in what was seen as another signal that Washington was ready to give the talks a chance.
But in retrospect, it was a matter of when, not if.
As he left the White House on Friday, Trump said he had not yet made a decision but was “not happy” with Iran’s response, and he seemed less happy with Tehran as the day wore on.

In Texas, in a speech ahead of November’s midterm elections for which he was accompanied by the actor Dennis Quaid, Trump talked about how much oil he said the United States was getting from Venezuela – and then about the “very difficult decision” ahead on Iran.
Asked how close he was to making a decision on strikes, he told reporters: “I’d rather not tell you. You would have the greatest scoop in history, right?”
Just how close Trump was to making a decision would finally become clear at 2.30am.
“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran,” said Trump, sporting the same white USA hat he was seen wearing when he arrived in Florida.
As with the Venezuela operation, Trump monitored the US attacks overnight from Mar-a-Lago along with his top national security officials, the White House said.
Rubio was there with him on Saturday, the State Department confirmed, while Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and top military officer Dan Caine were reportedly also present.
Once again, America had gone to war from Trump’s holiday home.


With Khamenei dead, who will be Iran’s next supreme leader?

Trump was once not keen on regime change in Iran – then he lost patience

What to know about Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Burgers, then war: Trump’s bluffs before Iran strikes

Middle East

President Donald Trump visits a Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The USS Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile in support of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday. Photo: US Navy via AP

US President Donald Trump speaks with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Mar-a-Lago, as the US conducts military operations in Iran. Photo: White House via Reuters

US says it used drones based on Iran’s own Shaheds in attack: ‘American-made retribution’

A Shahed drone is displayed in Tehran, Iran, on February 11. Photo: WANA via Reuters

A Ukrainian officer examines a downed Shahed drone launched by Russia in November 2024. Photo: AP

Trump gambles his Iran attack will save flailing Maga agenda

A person wearing an old military uniform and holding an anti-Trump sign takes part in a “March 4 Democracy” protest in Washington on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Protesters demonstrate against US President Donald Trump and his administration during a “March 4 Democracy” rally in Washington on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Smoke rises from the direction of the US naval base in Manama, Bahrain, after an Iranian missile attack was reported on Saturday. Photo: Social media via Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the phone with US President Donald Trump in Jerusalem on Saturday. Photo: GPO via EPA

Iranian Supreme leader Khamenei confirmed dead as US, Israel strikes enter second day

A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iranian demonstrators protest against the US-Israeli strikes in Tehran on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been confirmed as killed in the US and Israeli strikes. Photo: EPA

Tehran was one of the Iranian cities hit by the US and Israeli missiles on Saturday. Photo: AP

Rubble and debris cover a destroyed vehicle following a missile strike on Tehran. Photo: AFP

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile in support of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday. Photo: Handout

Pentagon pizza tracker predicted ‘busy night’ before Israel’s secret Iran strikes

The Pentagon building in June 2021. Pizza deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled right before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989, and surged again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Photo: AFP

News

World

United States & Canada

The US president gave mixed signals about whether the attack was coming, but his weekend Mar-a-Lago trip may have been the big giveaway


The US president gave mixed signals about whether the attack was coming, but his weekend Mar-a-Lago trip may have been the big giveaway.


Burgers, then war: Trump’s bluffs before Iran strikes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The US president gave mixed signals about whether the attack was coming, but his weekend Mar-a-Lago trip may have been the big giveaway

The US president gave mixed signals about whether the attack was coming, but his weekend Mar-a-Lago trip may have been the big giveaway