The White House celebration will bring together the pilots and personnel from Whiteman Air Force Base, honoring their role in what the administration calls a “decisive and successful” mission. Leavitt emphasized that the flyover will display “the might of America’s Air Force” and the “state-of-the-art” capabilities used in the operation.
The event underscores the Trump administration’s message of “peace through strength,” with Vice President JD Vance reiterating on Sunday that the strikes were intended to prevent war by dismantling Iran’s nuclear ambitions without risking American lives on the ground.
Security experts have raised concerns about publicly identifying the pilots, noting the risks to their safety and families. Veteran Pentagon analyst Barbara Starr questioned whether the White House would protect their identities during the high-profile event.
The operation, ordered by President Trump, involved seven B-2 bombers flying a grueling 36-hour round trip from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Iran and back, requiring multiple mid-air refuelings and fighter jet support. The bombers dropped 14 massive “bunker buster” bombs on heavily fortified underground nuclear facilities, while U.S. submarines launched cruise missiles at Iran’s Isfahan site. Additional B-2s flew over the Pacific as decoys to mask the mission’s true target.
Trump has hailed the strikes as a decisive success, declaring that key Iranian nuclear sites were “obliterated.” However, international assessments, including from the U.N.’s nuclear chief Rafael Mariano Grossi, indicate the strikes caused “severe damage” but did not completely destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Intelligence reports vary, with some suggesting the program was set back by less than a year, while others claim delays of multiple years.
