As the US attacks Iran, Donald Trump is following a blueprint laid out by a long-standing force in US foreign policy: the neocons who backed the Iraq War more than 20 years ago.

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As President Donald Trump continues to bombard Iran, he’s following a plan laid out in a “Project 2025”–like manifesto written by a long-standing force in US foreign policy: the neocons who backed the Iraq War more than twenty years ago.

It’s part of a dark money–backed network of neoconservatives and Israel lobbyists that has been working quietly over the past year to push the Trump administration to launch a military intervention in Iran, releasing memos and polls urging action.

In the first weeks of Trump’s presidency in January 2025, a think tank called the Vandenberg Coalition released a white paper outlining a new agenda for US foreign policy. Called “Deals of the Century: Solving the Middle East,” the document was a “neocon manifesto” for a second Trump presidency, advocating for the United States to provide even more arms to Israel and take a “radically different” stance on Iran. It was a hawkish road map designed to influence a president who had ostensibly embraced isolationist messaging in his campaign.

The Vandenberg Coalition, formed in 2021 during President Joe Biden’s time in office, advocates for an interventionist foreign policy and increased defense spending. Over the past year, it has released a flurry of reports on Venezuela and Iran, cheering on the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and releasing a document in January that called for strikes against Iran.

The Neocon Network Around Trump

The organization is chaired by Elliott Abrams, a prominent neoconservative power broker. Abrams, who served in George W. Bush’s…