On May 16, President Donald Trump posted an embarrassing AI image of himself with a US Navy admiral surrounded by warships with the caption at the top reading: “It Was the Calm Before the Storm.” That posting has added—certainly intentionally—to the speculation and rumors rife since Trump returned from Beijing on May 15, that he is about to restart the bombing of Iran in the wake of Iran’s refusal to capitulate to his demands, and Xi Jinping’s unwillingness to help Trump pull the chestnuts out of the fire on this matter.
Two unnamed Middle East officials told the New Yok Times on May 15 that the United States and Israel are engaged in intense preparations—the largest since the cease-fire took effect—for the possible resumption of attacks against Iran as early as this coming week.
If Trump decides to resume military strikes, options include more aggressive bombing runs at Iranian military and infrastructure targets, U.S. officials said. Another option would put Special Operations troops on the ground to go after nuclear material buried deep underground, they said. Several hundred Special Operations forces arrived in the Middle East in March in a deployment meant to give Mr. Trump that option, the officials said.
