In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump had directly threatened the Iranian Supreme Leader, saying he knew "where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding."

On June 15, Trump rejected an Israeli plan to kill Ali Khamenei, a senior U.S. official told USA TODAY. The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, confirmed that Israel was presented with an opportunity to kill Khamenei but Trump objected to the plan and steered it off.

The decision to launch a full-on attack on Iran would be in the gray area between the president’s powers as commander in chief and the Constitution’s mandate that only Congress can declare war.