Inside the Mar-a-Lago war room as Trump monitored US-Israeli strikes on Iran
The White House released four photographs of President Trump and members of his cabinet overseeing air strikes on Iran, carried out by US and Israeli forces. A closer look at the people pictured and the details in the background can tell us much about what was happening in the room during these tense moments.
When US presidents launch military action, they usually do so from the purpose-built secure facility in the White House known as the Situation Room.
But Donald Trump wasn’t at the White House when military action got under way in the early hours of Saturday morning. He was at Mar-a-Lago, the luxury mansion and members’ club he owns in Florida, where he also spent much of Sunday, monitoring events and calling reporters.
The situation room in Mar-a-Lago is fully equipped for the president to oversee military operations from there - as he has in the past.
A photograph shows Donald Trump wearing a white “USA” cap while monitoring the situation in Iran.
A "sensitive compartmented information facility", known as a SCIF, in which classified information can be discussed, was first established at Mar-a-Lago in 2017 - and was re-established ahead of his return to the presidency. Access to these areas is tightly controlled, with strict rules over the use of electronics.
In the room
A "sensitive compartmented information facility", known as a SCIF, in which classified information can be discussed, was first established at Mar-a-Lago in 2017 - and was re-established ahead of his return to the presidency. Access to these areas is tightly controlled, with strict rules over the use of electronics.
The White House shared two further images from inside the room. One shows Joint Chiefs chairman Dan Caine - the highest-ranking member of the US military - pointing at what looks like a military asset in the Arabian Sea, just south of Iran, on a large computer screen.
Top generals are usually seen dressed in their military uniform when meeting the president at the White House, but General Caine is dressed more casually here.
US media reports last week claimed Caine had warned the president that the US could be drawn into a prolonged war in Iran but Trump dismissed the reports as “fake news” and said the general thought a potential conflict would “be something easily won”.
The other photograph gives us what appears to be the only sighting of Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth at the far left of the image. He is due to brief Congress on the situation in Iran on Tuesday along with Rubio, Ratcliffe and Caine.
It also shows Wiles wearing what at first glance appears to be a smartwatch on her right arm, which would be unusual in a secured facility because of its potential security risks. But the White House denied it was a smartwatch and the CEO of a health and fitness tracker company said it was one of their devices, which has no microphone or GPS tracking.
A final photograph released by the White House shows the actual Situation Room in Washington DC, where Vice-President JD Vance monitored the operation with the president via a conference call. The vice-presidential seal can be seen on the wall.
The Situation Room is a 5,000-sq-feet (460-sq-m) space that contains three secure conference rooms with the most advanced secure communications equipment and a staff of over 100 people. It was last upgraded in 2023 - to the cost of $50m - to ensure it meets the highest security requirements.
Vance, who served in the US Marines for four years, has criticised previous administrations for getting involved in long wars overseas. Last week he said there was “no chance” any action in Iran would lead to the US being in “a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight”.
Sitting alongside him in the Situation Room were Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and another anti-interventionist, as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
By the end of Sunday, US and Israeli forces had struck well over 1,000 targets across Iran, focusing on command and control, air defence and ballistic missile targets, and the joint headquarters of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quickly killed, as was a large swathe of Iran’s top military and intelligence figures. But Iran swiftly struck back, launching a barrage of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, US bases and civilian targets across the Persian Gulf.
US officials have not given a fixed timeframe for the operation, but on 2 March the Pentagon sought to assure Americans that it won’t become an “endless war”. Iran continues to be defiant, and in the meantime, the fighting continues.
Photo credits: White House
