Trump’s claim about “control of the skies over Iran” raises questions about U.S. involvement in conflict

President Trump declared in a social media post Tuesday, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran” — a claim that departed from earlier U.S. statements that Israel’s offensive against Iran was being carried out without U.S. involvement. 

CBS News has reached out to the White House to request clarification on what the president meant when he said “we” have control over the skies of Iran.

Mr. Trump added, “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it,   but it doesn’t compare to American-made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.” The Israeli military is equipped with aircraft and weapons systems purchased from the U.S.

The U.S. has been helping Israel fend off Iranian counterstrikes since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, but has said the U.S. “is not involved in Israel’s unilateral action against targets in Iran.” 

Mr. Trump began a meeting Tuesday afternoon in the White House Situation Room with his national security team on the Israel-Iran conflict, according to multiple sources.

Writing on Truth Social, the president also used menacing language about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. He said in a post that the U.S. knows where Khamenei is, but isn’t going to kill him — “at least not for now.” 

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Mr. Trump wrote. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

A minute later, he added, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”

The White House has also not provided any additional information about the president’s comments about Khamenei’s whereabouts.

CBS News reported on Sunday that President Trump opposed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined to rule out the possibility of targeting Iran’s leader. Asked by ABC News in an interview that aired Monday if Israel would try to kill Khamenei, Netanyahu said only that his country was “doing what we need to do.”

Netanyahu denied that such a move would be escalatory, saying, “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict.”

Vice President JD Vance suggested in a post on X Tuesday that the president “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” adding, “That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”  

Vance said that “people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy” and articulated the administration’s concern about Iran’s uranium enrichment activities.

“I have yet to see a single good argument for why Iran needed to enrich uranium well above the threshold for civilian use,” which is about 3% to 5%. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a recent report that Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state in the world that is producing and accumulating uranium enriched to 60%.

Vance also said in his post, “I can assure you that [the president] is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”

Mr. Trump left the G7 economic summit in Canada ahead of schedule to focus on events in the Middle East. He arrived in D.C. early Tuesday after flying back from Calgary on Air Force One overnight. 

Olivia Rinaldi,

Margaret Brennan,

James LaPorta and

Jennifer Jacobs

contributed to this report.