Furious Republicans stormed out of a classified briefing on Iran on Wednesday amid fears the US is preparing to invade the country as Tehran refuses Donald Trump’s peace overtures.
With almost 7,000 US ground forces deploying or en route to the Middle East – including from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and the Marines – speculation is swirling about Trump’s rapidly developing plans for the war.
Nancy Mace walked out early, venting that ‘we were misled,’ while pro-Trump committee chair Mike Rogers warned ‘we’re not getting answers’ as Pentagon chiefs briefed the House Armed Services Committee, sparking fireworks on Capitol Hill.
Now, a Daily Mail source inside the room has revealed stark new details, including a shifting set of objectives separate from those publicly touted by the administration.
‘We were told nukes were not a military objective,’ they said, noting how the Pentagon has repeatedly stated they were.
It marks a stark shift from the four goals the White House has publicly stated: destroying Iran’s missiles, navy, armed proxies, and nuclear capabilities.
The lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, urged the White House to answer questions about Kharg Island, Iran’s crucial oil export hub; its nuclear material; and regime change.
The lawmaker said that the White House must answer for its plans, particularly regarding Kharg Island and troops on the ground.
The answers are ‘jaw-dropping’ and ‘will blow your brains out,’ the lawmaker said.
Members of Delta Company, part of the 82nd Airborne, 1-325, on patrol in the streets of the Khadamiya neighborhood in North East Baghdad during the Iraq War
One lawmaker suggested to the Daily Mail that Iran’s Kharg Island will be important to the war’s next steps
Congresswoman Nancy Mace told reporters she was ‘misled’ about the war after she exited the meeting on Wednesday
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, March 26
‘This is completely false,’ White House Spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Daily Mail.
‘The United States Military has four distinct goals in Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capacity, annihilate their navy, ensure that terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region, and guarantee that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.’
Iran has begun reinforcing Kharg Island for a potential US ground invasion by laying traps such as anti-personnel and anti-armor mines along likely landing zones.
The island, responsible for the processing of 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, lies deep inside the Persian Gulf, and its capture would represent a major strategic shift in the war.
US officials have warned the administration that a ground operation to seize the island would carry significant risks, including the potential for high numbers of American casualties.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers was uncharacteristically agitated after leaving the briefing, stating that he had few details about the direction the war is heading.
‘We want to know more about what’s going on,’ Rogers, an Alabama Republican, said. ‘We’re just not getting enough answers.’
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi felt the same after his own briefing.
‘I can see why he might have said that,’ Wicker told Politico of Rogers’ comments.
Nancy Mace wrote on X: ‘The justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House Armed Services Committee.’
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Department of War officials briefed lawmakers, but the members were not satisfied with the answers from Pete Hegseth’s liutenants
A plume of smoke and a fragment of concrete rise from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, on March 24, 2026
2,000 troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne unit, pictured above during the Iraq war, are en route to the Middle East
But at least one of the new objectives, regime change, aligns with Israel’s stated war aims. Trump has not mentioned regime change in his public messaging since the early days of the conflict, and it features nowhere in the White House’s official goals.
Netanyahu has three goals: eliminating Iran’s ballistic-missile stockpile, ensuring Tehran cannot develop a nuclear warhead, and fostering an environment within Iran for civilians to overthrow the Islamic regime.
On Wednesday, Iran flatly rejected a 15-point peace plan presented by the US.
The Republican walkout lays bare the fractures in the GOP over the Iran war, with skepticism growing among lawmakers about the timeline, scope, and purpose of the prolonged assault.
Members also expect the White House to submit a request for additional funding for the Pentagon.
The estimated price tag is $200 billion, roughly a fifth of the entire Pentagon’s annual budget.
