US President Donald Trump opposed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, CNN reported, amid ongoing waves of tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran. Over the weekend, one senior US official told CNN, the Israelis had an opportunity to kill Iran's supreme leader. The US communicated to Israel that Trump opposed that plan, the senior official said, and the plan was not executed.

Trump is eager to de-escalate, wary of becoming bogged in another Middle East war and highly attuned to the changing politics of his party.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday morning (local time) that there are "so many false reports of conversations that never happened and I'm not going to get into that". A spokesperson for Netanyahu told CNN that the reports of Trump rejecting an Israeli plan are "FAKE." Even as the conflict escalated, administration officials made clear they were open to continuing nuclear talks with Iran, hoping that, despite impossible odds, they could salvage a peaceful solution, as per CNN.