Bret Baier Provides Huge Update After Phone Call from Trump
Fox News anchor Bret Baier revealed new details about President Donald J. Trump’s decisive military campaign against Iran, underscoring both the strategic precision and the bold timing of what has been dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.”
Appearing on “America’s Newsroom,” Baier emphasized that Saturday’s strikes were not only tactically successful but symbolically powerful. Unlike conventional operations that rely on darkness for cover, U.S. forces struck after sunrise — a move that made American aircraft more visible but also demonstrated overwhelming confidence and dominance in the skies.
Baier described a direct conversation with the president, offering viewers rare insight into the commander-in-chief’s mindset as the joint U.S.-Israeli operation accelerates.
“I just got off the phone with the president. He is very pleased with you how things are going. Disheartened about the loss of life and there may be more. He said along the way. As far as the progress, he said they are ahead of where they thought they would be,” Baier began.
The president, now serving his second term, made clear that the operation was neither improvised nor reactionary. According to Baier, planning and intelligence efforts had long been in motion.
“I want to read some quotes that I asked him and how he answered. He said that as far as a plan, they do have a plan. Always had a plan. The intelligence, the level of intelligence that they have had up to this point is truly amazing. I asked what you are saying is you know there is somebody on the ground in Iran that is going to rise up. Quote, yeah, I feel there is. I feel that and some of them are no longer with us to be honest because it was 49 leaders that were taken out,” Baier added.
That revelation — the elimination of 49 Iranian leaders — represents a staggering blow to Tehran’s ruling structure. Baier explained that what was initially projected to take weeks unfolded far more rapidly.
“That was going to take four weeks we thought to get rid of the Iranian leadership and it is always, you know, if they hide it is a lot longer than four weeks. They would have been hiding. We were shocked when we heard what was going on. We knew exactly what was happening and where. 49 leaders. You know, they are talking about using people now that nobody ever heard of even they don’t know,” he continued.
The scale of the disruption appears to have thrown Iran’s succession planning into chaos.
“They are using people, studying people to be the leader that even they don’t know who they are. Can you believe that? I said this is — it’s a tough succession plan in Iran. He said 49 leaders is deep. It’s very deep. When they met, they met for breakfast. They assumed it was good for a lot of reasons. Number one they didn’t think we knew you. You never attack in the morning having to do with wind and sun and a lot of things. It was amazing that we knew everything we knew.”
Baier noted that President Trump pointed to Venezuela as a strategic template — suggesting a broader doctrine rooted in intelligence dominance, economic pressure, and targeted force rather than endless occupation.
“He said there is a plan. He points to Venezuela as a template, which means to me that going in they had some sense on the ground of what was coming next. As far as the military operation, he said there is no greater military than the U.S. He was praising general caine. Chairman of the joint chiefs and secretary of war Pete Hegseth for the news conference he just watched,” the Fox News host explained.
Baier concluded with a clear summary of the president’s outlook.
“Cut and dry as he said, central casting and they have a job to do and they are getting it done. So from the president of the United States, he is pleased, does believe that this is going faster than they thought. And he believes that four weeks is something that they had put as a calendar of what they were looking at as setting the table for the Iranians to do what they do,” Baier concluded.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reinforced that message Monday morning, stressing that the mission is narrowly defined and strategically focused — a sharp contrast to the failed nation-building experiments of past administrations.
“Destroy Iranian missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure and they will never have nuclear weapons,” said Hegseth, who was joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
While declining to provide a specific timetable, Hegseth made clear that this operation will not devolve into another prolonged Middle East entanglement.
“This is not Iraq,” Hegseth said. “This is not endless. I was there for both — our generation knows better, and so does this president. He called the last 20 years of nation-building wars dumb and he’s right. This is the opposite. This operation is a clear, devastating, decisive mission: Destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.”
The message from the White House is unmistakable: under President Trump’s leadership, American military power is being deployed with clarity, constitutional resolve, and strategic restraint — aimed not at occupation, but at eliminating threats before they reach U.S. soil.