US President Donald Trump told members of his administration to publicly push a two-week decision window in order to conceal plans to attack Iran, CNN reported on Sunday evening.
Trump reportedly was upset by coverage that suggested that he'd made a final decision on whether or not to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.
The US president also thought that a decoy timeline would throw the Islamic Republic off his trail, sources familiar with the matter told CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
Trump made the call on Thursday afternoon before a White House press briefing; his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, informed reporters of his false decision.
Israeli officials needed a week to convince Trump
The Jerusalem Post previously reported that it took Israeli officials an entire week to convince the Trump administration to join the strikes.
“Four days ago, there was a phone call between Netanyahu and the US president, during which Trump said, ‘I’ve decided to launch a strike,’” an Israeli official told the Post.
Trump only planned to bomb the enrichment facility in Fordow, but officials said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer convinced him to “finish the job."
“The Americans struck locations within these sites that Israel had trouble reaching,” the Israeli source said. “The US hit a zone in Isfahan hidden in the mountainside, where the Iranians had stored enriched uranium and other nuclear-related infrastructure.”
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.