Trump Bombs Three Iranian Nuclear Sites Without Asking Congress, Resolving Long-Standing Concern That Starting A War Still Required The Branch Of Government Assigned To Start Wars

WASHINGTON. President Donald J. Trump moved decisively Saturday night to resolve a constitutional concern that had constrained American presidents since 1789, ordering a surprise bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities without first consulting the branch of government to which the Constitution assigns the power to declare war.

In an operation the Pentagon code-named Midnight Hammer, seven B-2 stealth bombers flew roughly 37 hours round trip to drop fourteen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on the enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, while a submarine added a volley of Tomahawk cruise missiles for what officials described as thoroughness. Addressing the nation hours later, Trump called the strikes a "spectacular military success" and announced that the sites had been "completely and totally obliterated," a battlefield assessment he reached before any inspector, analyst, or satellite had weighed in.

Administration officials confirmed that the President had briefed select Republican lawmakers in advance but had elected not to notify the Democratic congressional leadership or, in any formal sense, the legislative branch, citing the durable principle that asking permission tends to slow things down. "The War Powers Resolution asks the President to consult Congress in every possible instance before introducing forces into hostilities," said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultation did not occur. "We reviewed that requirement carefully and decided against it. Article I is a beautiful document. It is just not a fast document."

When a preliminary intelligence assessment days later suggested the strikes may have set the Iranian program back only by months rather than erasing it, Trump rejected the finding and reaffirmed that the facilities remained obliterated, a word aides said he had grown attached to and intended to keep using regardless of subsequent developments. Sources within the administration noted that the President screened the bombing footage repeatedly and asked whether "totally obliterated" could be entered into future briefings as a settled scientific term.

The strikes, which followed Israel's own June 13 air campaign against Iran, prompted a carefully telegraphed Iranian retaliation against an American base in Qatar two days later, after which Trump declared the matter resolved and announced that "now is the time for peace." Congress, revisiting the question of whether it retained any role in the decision, took up war powers resolutions in both chambers; both failed, formally confirming that the President's authority to bomb a foreign country on a Saturday night now rests on the understanding that no one will stop him.

At press time, the President was reviewing options for a second nation to obliterate, pending identification of a free weekend.