“President Donald Trump spent the bulk of this week saying he hoped Israel wouldn’t strike Iran. But by Friday, he was all in,” Politico reports.

“The president had hoped for more time to negotiate with Tehran over its nuclear program, but once Israel launched the massive attack, Trump embraced the new dynamic, using it as leverage to try to seal the deal he wanted all along.”

Wall Street Journal: How a once-resistant Trump decided to back Israel’s attacks on Iran.

The Atlantic: What Trump knew about the attack against Iran.

“On the first day of his second term, President Trump predicted he would be remembered as a peacemaker and a unifier,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Trump: “Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.”

“About five months later, the world is proving to be more angry, violent and unpredictable than Trump bargained for.”

“The war in Ukraine, which Trump vowed to end immediately, is grinding on despite his repeated attempts to broker a resolution. Peace in Gaza remains out of reach. And now, Israel’s strikes on Iran threaten to envelop the Middle East in a broader conflagration, potentially dragging the U.S. in to defend its longtime ally.”

Tucker Carlson made waves when he criticized not only President Trump, whom he described as being “complicit” in Israel’s attack on Iran, but also former Fox News colleagues like Sean Hannity and Rupert Murdoch for acting as “warmongers,” the Daily Beast reports.

“As Israel pummels Iran with waves of airstrikes, President Trump is navigating the divides within the Republican Party over whether the United States should get involved in another foreign conflict,” the New York Times reports.

“On one side are the isolationists who fear that Israel could pull the United States into another Middle East war. And on the other are the Iran hawks and Israel supporters who have been calling for just this sort of military action for years.”

“Mr. Trump appears caught between the two sides, veering back and forth as he tries to distance the United States from Israel’s assault while celebrating the success of the attacks and warning Iran that more is coming.”

“A federal judge in California has halted a State Department plan to lay off almost 2,000 employees, marking a setback to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s push to rapidly downsize the agency,” the Washington Post reports.

Wall Street Journal: “With a sixth round of talks between Trump administration envoy Steve Witkoff and his Iranian counterparts set for Sunday in Oman, Israeli and U.S. officials warned of military action if Iran didn’t agree to end its production of fissile material that can be used in nuclear weapons.”

“Instead, Israel hit first, achieving tactical surprise through a devastating series of blows that killed three top Iranian generals and key nuclear scientists and hit sites linked to the country’s nuclear programs.”

“Israel’s operation against Iran’s nuclear program, military leadership and arsenal of missiles is nowhere near over, with Israel having planned out 14 days of operations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The likely duration of the campaign fits with analysts’ expectations that a single wave of strikes wouldn’t be able to do enough damage to Iran’s nuclear program and Israel’s comprehensive approach of attacking Iran’s facilities, leadership and arsenal at the same time to limit the possibility of a retaliatory strike.”