This is a major update.
The United States is planning escalating strikes.
However, there will be off-ramps according to a new report.
New: The US has planned an escalating series of strikes with off-ramps along the way, according to a senior US official. Each round will be over a one to two-day period with pauses to reset and assess battle damage. #Iran
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 28, 2026
It would be hard to see no regime change here. Trump called pretty directly for the people to rise up and take their freedom. A deal would undermine that. With that said, Trump understand it is risky to do regime change because it is not clear what comes after. Iraq and Libya were both worse off after regime change. Trump also understands that doesn’t mean you can allow bad actors to do whatever they want. Many talking heads want you to believe that Trump had some sort of off-ramp with Iran. Trump’s decision was simple.
Strike Iran or allow them to get a nuke/continue to build out their missile capacity.
Trump wasn’t going to let that happen.
