The night Mr. Trump directed an attack on Iran in the middle of a gala at Mar-a-Lago

US President Donald Trump surprised guests on the evening of February 27 when he appeared at the fundraising event taking place at the Mar-a-Lago residence, Palm Beach, Florida. When the song God Bless the USA (God Bless America) rang out, President Trump danced to the music.

“Have fun everyone,” President Trump called out to the crowd wearing tuxedos. “I have to go to work, we have to go to work.”

Few people know that at Mar-a-Lago at this time, a temporary Situation Room has been set up and Mr. Trump is preparing to supervise a joint campaign between the US and Israeli military against Iran.

While guests danced the night away in Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom, the other side of the sprawling mansion was a completely different scene. US officials took turns walking through gilded doors, overcoming many layers of security and gathering to prepare for a long night with the President. The temporary Situation Room has exposed wooden beams on the ceiling, surrounded by black curtains.

Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were quietly present in advance, unnoticed by the crowd sipping cocktails by the pool.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine also appeared, carrying a map of the Middle East on an easel. Map marking the location of US assets and targets in Iran.

Images released by the White House on February 28 show Mr. Trump wearing a vest, white shirt and a white baseball cap with the word “America” ​​printed on it. He sat with Secretary of State Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and several other officials. They all had serious looks on their faces.

Behind President Trump is a partially obscured map with the words Terror Rage. This is how the US called the coordinated campaign with Israel on the morning of February 28 to attack Iran, targeting defense and intelligence facilities, as well as the private homes of a series of high-ranking officials and generals.

Those photos and two pre-recorded videos, including an announcement about the special operation and mentioning the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and three American soldiers, are all the public knows about the President’s activities. He did not make an official speech or hold a televised press conference.

This makes the photos provided by the White House become the dominant image showing Mr. Trump’s command activities during the campaign. In one photo, he leaned over and conversed with Chief of Staff Wiles while she was gesturing with her right hand. The black smartwatch on Ms. Wiles’s wrist sparked speculation online that the device could expose the room’s security, but that argument was quickly refuted by the manufacturer.

“This device is called Whoop,” wrote Will Ahmed, founder of the watch manufacturing company. “It does not have a microphone, GPS or any cellular connectivity capabilities and has long been on the list of personal electronic devices approved by the National Security Agency (NSA).”

At the White House, Vice President JD Vance also watched the Terror Rage campaign with US cabinet officials such as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other cabinet secretaries.

The Situation Room is a complex in the West Wing of more than 500 square meters, including many meeting rooms. According to the US National Archives, President John F. Kennedy built this facility in 1961, to allow future US leaders to have their own area to respond to crises.

Mr. Trump’s use of Mar-a-Lago to monitor a sensitive campaign worries national security experts, because Mar-a-Lago members can access the country’s top security secrets. The Secret Service checks guests before they enter the premises, but does not decide who has access to the club.

The list of top secret operations given the “green light” from Mar-a-Lago is already quite long, from the Syria airstrike in 2017 to Iran’s top military general Qasem Soleimani in 2020. During his second term, Mr. Trump continued from Mar-a-Lago to watch the US airstrike on the Houthis in Yemen, attack IS in Nigeria or raid Venezuela to capture Mr. Nicolas Maduro.

Mar-a-Lago is not sacrosanct. Last month, US agents shot down an armed man who illegally entered the club’s security area. Mr. Trump was not present at the resort at that time.

After the US launched the campaign in Iran, President Trump did not go to the golf course, which is rare when he is in Palm Beach. He then returned to the White House on March 1.