White House photos show rare look inside the Situation Room as Trump authorizes strikes in Iran

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.

( 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.

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.

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.