By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — One image shows President Donald Trump staring straight ahead stone-faced, monitoring the mission that took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites on Saturday.

In another image, Trump stands as his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, appears to speak. And whenever Trump is pictured, he is donning a bright red hat blaring his signature campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

The series of photos that the White House published on its X account Saturday gives the public a rare glimpse inside the Situation Room — again stirring the intrigue that occurs any time pictures from the highly secret complex are released.

In this image provided by the White House, President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance sit in the Situation Room, Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the White House in Washington. (The White House via AP)

(Recall the photo of then-president Barack Obama watching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden?)

The photos from Saturday portrayed Trump with senior members of his team, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio — doubling as Trump’s national security adviser — White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They are gathered around a large wooden table in the main conference room of the Situation Room, known as the “JFK Room” — named for the president who was in office when the Situation Room was established.

Trump is always in sharp focus whenever he is pictured, even as other officials in the foreground — like Hegseth or Vance — are softly blurred.

In this image provided by the White House, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in foreground, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio sit in the Situation Room, Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the White House in Washington. (The White House via AP)

The two officials closest to Trump when he’s seated are Vance and Rubio, perhaps underscoring the depth of their influence as Trump deliberated for days whether to strike Iran.

But the president isn’t always sitting still. At points, Trump was roaming around the room, standing behind his top aide Wiles as Caine appeared to speak. Some photos show Cabinet members sitting still, intently watching something, while others show a relative flurry of activities — the joint chiefs chairman pointing animatedly, Hegseth conferring with another official.

There are half-empty water bottles on the wooden conference table, along with disposable cups featuring the White House seal. Colorful highlighters. A thick binder in front of Caine.

This image provided by the White House shows CIA Director John Ratcliffe, in foreground seated, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, speaks with national security adviser Andy Baker with White House counsel David Warrington seated in background in the Situation Room, Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the White House in Washington. (The White House via AP)

CIA Director John Ratcliffe had a binder and papers in front of him as well, although his documents appeared to be blurred — certainly for security reasons.

Senior administration officials not considered principals were also there. In the back in one photo is Dan Scavino, the president’s omnipresent deputy chief of staff. In another, White House counsel David Warrington is pictured.

The Situation Room that Trump and his national security team sat in is a vastly different one than from his previous term. The sprawling complex located on the ground floor of the West Wing underwent a $50 million renovation that was completed in 2023.

By DAVID RISING, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — In inserting itself into Israel’s war against Iran, Washington unleashed its massive “bunker-buster” bombs on Iran’s Fordo fuel enrichment plant.

Those bombs were widely seen as the best chance of damaging or destroying Fordo, built deep into a mountain and untouched during Israel’s weeklong offensive. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation before an official briefing, confirmed their use in Sunday’s attack.

The U.S. is the only military capable of dropping the weapons, and the movement of B2 stealth bombers toward Asia on Saturday had signaled possible activity by the U.S. Israeli leaders had made no secret of their hopes that President Donald Trump would join their week-old war against Iran, though they had also suggested they had backup plans for destroying the site.

It remained unclear early Sunday how much damage had been inflicted upon Fordo. The mission could have wide-ranging ramifications, including jeopardizing any chance of Iran engaging in Trump’s desired talks on its nuclear program and dragging the U.S. into another Mideast war.

Here’s a closer look.

What is the bunker-buster bomb?

“Bunker buster” is a broad term used to describe bombs that are designed to penetrate deep below the surface before exploding. In this case, it refers to the latest GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in the American arsenal. The roughly 30,000 pound precision-guided bomb is designed to attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels, according to the U.S. Air Force.

FILE – In this photo released by the U.S. Air Force on May 2, 2023, airmen look at a GBU-57, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri.(U.S. Air Force via AP, File)

It’s believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. It was not immediately known how many were used in the Sunday morning strike.

The bomb carries a conventional warhead, but the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility. However, Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said. U.S. warplanes also hit Natanz.

How tough a target is Fordo?

Fordo is Iran’s second nuclear enrichment facility after Natanz, its main facility, which already has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. The IAEA says it believes those strikes have had “direct impacts” on the facility’s underground centrifuge halls.

Fordo is smaller than Natanz, and is built into the side of a mountain near the city of Qom, about 60 miles southwest of Tehran. Construction is believed to have started around 2006 and it became first operational in 2009 — the same year Tehran publicly acknowledged its existence.

FILE – This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on April 1, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP, File)

In addition to being an estimated 260 feet under rock and soil, the site is reportedly protected by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems. Those air defenses, however, likely have already been struck in the Israeli campaign, which claims to have knocked out most of Iran’s air defenses.

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the goal of attacking Iran was to eliminate its missile and nuclear program, which he described as an existential threat to Israel, and officials have said Fordo was part of that plan.

“This entire operation … really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordo,” Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., told Fox News.

Why does the U.S. need to be involved?

In theory, the GBU-57 A/B could be dropped by any bomber capable of carrying the weight, but at the moment the U.S. has only configured and programed its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to deliver the bomb, according to the Air Force.

The B-2 is only flown by the Air Force, and is produced by Northrop Grumman.

FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2015, file photo, a U.S. Air Force B2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.(AP Photo/Mark Almond, File)

According to the manufacturer, the B-2 can carry a payload of 40,000 pounds but the U.S. Air Force has said it has successfully tested the B-2 loaded with two GBU-57 A/B bunker busters — a total weight of some 60,000 pounds.

The strategic long-range heavy bomber has a range of about 7,000 miles without refueling and 11,500 miles with one refueling, and can reach any point in the world within hours, according to Northrop Grumman.

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Trump was noncommittal

Whether the U.S. would get involved had been unclear in recent days.

At the G7 meeting in Canada, Trump was asked what it would take for Washington to become involved militarily and he said: “I don’t want to talk about that.”

Then on Thursday, Trump said he would decide within “two weeks” whether to get involved to give another chance to the possibility of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. In the end, it took just two days to decide.

Lolita C. Baldor contributed from Narragansett, Rhode Island.

WASHINGTON  — A transcript of President Donald Trump’s speech on U.S. airstrikes on Iran on Saturday as transcribed by The Associated Press:

“Thank you very much.

“A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive, precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime. Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise.

“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.

“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.

“For 40 years, Iran has been saying. Death to America, death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East, and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular. So many were killed by their general, Qassim Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.

“I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight, and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

“Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that’s so. I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan ‘Razin’ Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.

“With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

“Tomorrow, General Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will have a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon. And I want to just thank everybody. And, in particular, God. I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

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With 1.2 seconds left in the third quarter Saturday night, Karlie Samuelson grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Natisha Hiedeman, who quickly found Diamond Miler for a driving layup and a 57-54 lead as the clock hit triple zeroes.

The play added even more momentum to the shorthanded Lynx, who pulled away to beat Los Angeles 82-66 at Target Center and improve to a WNBA-best 12-1.

Minnesota outscored the Sparks 48-31 in the second half, including 25-12 in the fourth quarter. The Lynx shot 64.3% (9 for 14) in the final frame, including 5 of 8 from deep, while limiting the Sparks to 26.3% (5 for 19).

Kayla McBride dominated down the stretch, scoring 15 of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter (she played just 5:48 of the 10 minutes), including four of her five makes from deep, much to the delight of the 8,777 in attendance for Pride Night.

Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride (21) plays against the Las Vegas Aces during a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

“This is Mac, this is what she does. She knows this kind of game is just around the corner. Stick with it,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve

A top outside shooter, McBride was 5 for 22 in her previous two games, including missing 12 shots from outside the arc, but it’s widely accepted that to get out of a slump, a shooter’s got to shoot.

McBride scored a 3-pointer followed by a three-point play 36 seconds later for a 66-59 Lynx lead. A jumper by Courtney Williams pushed the lead to nine midway through the fourth quarter.

Los Angeles scored inside, but Alanna Smith made a trey at the other end. After a Sparks miss, McBride swished home a triple. “McBuckets” drained two more from outside the line after another Los Angeles bucket, and the lead became 17.

Williams finished with 18 points and six assists.

Lynx star Napheesa Collier missed the contest after leaving Tuesday’s win with lower back soreness. The team had no update for a potential return.

That gave Maria Kliundikova her first career start. The 6-foot-4 forward, who signed with Minnesota on June 6 after being waived by Los Angeles on May 15, was an inside presence all night finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and a couple of blocks.

“I believe that Masha was pretty uptight going into the game. … She was still earning plays in today’s shootaround, and we were still on the fly trying to teach her stuff,” Reeve said.

Alanna Smith, whom Reeve said has been playing at “a high level” battled foul trouble but was strong in the fourth quarter, grabbing four of her eight rebounds and blocking a shot.

With reminders from a week ago still fresh, Reeve said a key for the Lynx would be keeping Los Angeles (4-10) out of the paint.

They did better than a week ago against the Sparks, but Los Angeles still had a 32-24 advantage. However, it was 22-8 at the half when the Lynx trailed 35-34.

Minnesota beat Los Angeles 101-78 last Saturday despite the Sparks having a 50-30 advantage in close.

The Lynx played without their top two rebounders.

Collier leads the team in points (24.4) and rebounds (8.5) and is second in assists (3.6). Forward Jessica Shepard, a strong inside presence with seven boards per game, missed her fourth straight game while competing for Slovenia in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025. She’s expected back soon.

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