U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran could be annihilated overnight, "and that night could be tomorrow," warning Tehran it must reach an agreement by Tuesday night or face consequences. "The entire country could be wiped out overnight, and that night could be tomorrow," Trump stated during a press conference at the White House. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced during a briefing that the largest strike since the initiation of action against Iran would commence on Monday, with a warning that Tuesday's strikes would be even more intense. Accompanied by senior national security advisors, Trump provided detailed descriptions of an operation over the weekend inside Iran to rescue a U.S. military pilot who had been shot down. Trump mentioned that the unidentified pilot had hidden in mountainous terrain and continuously moved to higher ground to increase the chances of rescue. "It was like finding a needle in a haystack," he said. According to Trump, hundreds of U.S. troops participated in the search and rescue mission, taking measures to prevent Iranian forces from locating the pilot first. John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who also attended the press conference, stated that the CIA conducted a "deception operation" aimed at misleading Iran into believing the pilot was in a different location. Ratcliffe noted that on Saturday morning, the CIA confirmed that "one of America's finest and bravest pilots was alive, hidden in a mountain crevice, still invisible to the enemy but not to the CIA." The pilot was shot down last Friday and rescued on Sunday morning. Trump described the operation: "In a breathtaking display of skill and precision, lethality and power, U.S. forces entered the area—the actual target zone—engaged the enemy, rescued the trapped officer, eliminated all threats, and withdrew from Iranian territory without any casualties." Trump also stated that he would demand the journalist who first reported the pilot's rescue to reveal their source, threatening imprisonment if the request was refused. Esper mentioned that the missing pilot used an emergency transponder to signal their location, with the first message sent being: "God is merciful."
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