Trump’s Pre-Strike Messaging Part of ‘Deception Campaign’ to Lull Iran’s Leader Into False Sense of Security – So Israel Could ‘Kill Him’

President Donald Trump’s public messaging in the hours before initial joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran was part of a coordinated effort to mislead Tehran and keep Ayatollah Ali Khamenei naively exposed, according to a senior Israeli official.

The claim, reported Friday by Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst, suggests the president played a key role in a broader “deception campaign” designed to convince Iranian leadership that no attack was imminent, which allowed Israeli forces to target and kill the country’s supreme leader while he remained above ground.

The revelations came after Israeli Defense Forces released images from Thursday night showing a barrage striking what it described as Khamenei’s bunker complex.

Providing more details on the facility, Yingst reported that the Iranian leader never entered the bunker before he was killed.

“At the time of the strike, when Operation Epic Fury began, when the Ayatollah Khamenei was actually killed, he was above ground, he did not go into this bunker and that is why the Israelis were able to kill him in part, because he didn’t think that he was going to be targeted,” Yingst told Fox & Friends.

According to Yingst, Israeli officials said that false sense of security was part of an effort coordinated strategy at senior levels between Washington and Jerusalem: “There was a deception campaign, I am told by a senior Israeli official, to make the Iranians think this attack wasn’t even going to begin.”

The official told Fox & Friends that despite visible military preparations, Khamenei’s inner circle failed to move him underground. Part of the strategy involved signals meant to lull Tehran into complacency, including public posts and statements from Trump himself.

“There were a number of posts made and statements by President Trump in the 24 hours leading up to the beginning of this operation,” he said. “All of this meant to deceive Iranian leadership,” Yingst reported.

He added: “This official said the result was exactly what planners had hoped for. Khamenei stayed above ground in the opening strike of Operation Epic Fury found him right there.”

One day before strikes began, on February 27, Trump mused negotiations with Iran were difficult but insisted: “I’d rather do it the peaceful way. But they’re very difficult people.”

Throughout that day, he posted to his Truth Social account dozens of times, not mentioning Iran, but promoting positive reviews of his State of the Union address, his ballroom plans, TikTok followers, attacks on opponents, and endorsements of Republican candidates.

Watch above via Fox News.

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