Donald Trump Urges United States Citizens to Consider Leaving the Country as He Warns of an Imminent War

Vice President JD Vance was in the Situation Room at the White House last night monitoring the US attack on Iran, according to a source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Vance was joined by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The group was dialled into a conference line with President Trump and his national security team, who were monitoring the strikes from the president’s Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, the source says.

The new detail helps fill in the picture on the administration’s planning and execution of Operation Epic Fury, as senior officials in Washington and Florida followed the air strikes unfolding in real time in Iran.

Trump has not spoken further on the strikes after delivering brief remarks earlier announcing that the operation was underway.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump “monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago”.

A little earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) put out an urgent alert on its Farsi page on X, warning “all personnel” in an industrial zone in Iran’s Isfahan region to “immediately evacuate”. A translation of the post says: “In a few minutes, the Israeli army will attack military infrastructures in this zone”.

Residents of Mazraeh, a village in the province, were told to stay inside their homes until the morning, and to avoid approaching the industrial zone after the attack. Isfahan is home to important nuclear and military-industrial facilities.