For weeks, the armada sat in plain sight.
Aircraft carriers. Destroyers. Squadrons of F-35s and F-22s deployed across allied bases. The largest US military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq war.
President Donald Trump insisted he still preferred diplomacy. But as Bloomberg reports, the military pressure campaign was already reshaping the calculus in Washington, and Tehran.
By the end of the week, the diplomacy collapsed. The bombs followed.
Build first, negotiate later
Trump’s objective, according to Bloomberg’s reporting based on interviews with US officials, was straightforward but maximalist: force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, curb its long-range missile programme, and sever support for regional armed proxies.
Publicly, he said he wanted a deal.
Privately, the US was moving forces at a scale designed to remind Iran of 2003.
At his State of the Union address, Trump accused Tehran of “again pursuing their sinister ambitions” to rebuild nuclear capabilities following last year’s joint US-Israel strikes.
“They want to make a deal,” he said, “but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
How urgent was Iran’s threat?
Behind closed doors, there was disagreement.
US Defense Intelligence Agency assessments suggested Iran’s nuclear progress remained constrained, Bloomberg reports. Israeli intelligence, by contrast, painted a far more urgent picture.
Some US officials quietly warned Trump’s envoys not to rely too heavily on Israeli conclusions.
That tension, caution versus urgency, ran through the week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed senior congressional leaders on the state of talks. The message: time was short.
Geneva: The talks that almost worked
Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, flew to Geneva for negotiations with Iranian counterparts.
According to Bloomberg, Thursday’s first round failed to produce a breakthrough. Yet there was ambiguity. Enough to attempt another round later that day.
Iranian officials reportedly believed progress was being made.
The Americans did not.
After 16 hours in Geneva, Kushner and Witkoff concluded that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s worldview left no space for coexistence with Trump’s regional vision, Bloomberg reports.
They flew back to Washington, adhering to what had been a self-imposed deadline.
There would be no third round.
The last attempt to stop war
Oman’s Foreign Minister, Badr Albusaidi, the mediator, sensed what was coming.
Bloomberg reports that he flew from Geneva to Washington and sought out Vice President JD Vance, long sceptical of foreign interventions, hoping to influence Trump’s inner circle.
The move angered hawkish advisers, some of whom viewed it as bordering on disloyalty.
Inside the White House, the mood had shifted.
Officials told Trump that while a short-term deal might be possible, it would not dismantle Iran’s missile infrastructure, one of his core demands.
At a rally in Texas, Trump admitted he was 'not happy' with negotiations.
From burgers to bombs
Hours after declaring 'Hamburgers for all!' at a Whataburger stop in Corpus Christi, Trump boarded Air Force One.
Bloomberg notes that while he headed to Florida for the weekend, preparations for military action were accelerating in Washington.
That night, Rubio notified senior lawmakers that a strike was likely.
In a video recorded without reporters and released overnight, Trump announced the attack.
“No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight,” he said.
Explosions soon ripped across Iran.
The first wave and the shock
Joint US and Israeli strikes targeted military and leadership sites.
Iran responded with missile barrages toward Israel and US-linked facilities across the Gulf. Air-defense systems intercepted incoming projectiles over Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi. Debris caused casualties in the UAE. A US-linked base in Bahrain came under fire.
Then came the headline shock: Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran later confirmed it.
Other senior Iranian officials, including top defence and Revolutionary Guard figures, were reported killed.
The early hours resembled a rout.
The gamble
Trump is, for now, relying on air power.
Bloomberg notes that he is urging Iranian citizens to rise up against their regime, a high-risk bet in a country without a unified organised opposition.
He has promised 'heavy and pinpoint bombing' for as long as necessary.
The irony is difficult to miss.
A president who rose to prominence condemning 'forever wars' has now launched one of the most consequential military actions of his political career.
According to Bloomberg, Trump does not appear worried. He maintained plans to attend a Republican fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stating that the event was 'more important than ever.'
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