President Trump reportedly gave the order to bomb Iran on Thursday night in response to its “unprovoked” downing of a US drone — even going so far as to put planes in the air and ships in position to strike — before eventually changing his mind, officials say.

The retaliation mission was ordered up earlier in the day, according to the New York Times, and was still in the progress of being carried out as of 7 p.m., the newspaper reports.

Multiple senior officials, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said the president was prepared to attack a number of Iranian targets, including radar and missile batteries. However, he eventually gave the word to stand down — with sources telling the Times that he chose to pull the US military forces he had positioned in the region back, though it’s unclear why.

The White House did not comment on Thursday night when reached by the newspaper, nor did Pentagon officials.

Trump had hinted at a possible retaliation strike earlier in the day.

“You will soon find out,” the president told reporters at The White House.

Tensions have been mounting between Iran and the US following the reported drone downing on Thursday and repeated assaults on oil tankers near the the Strait of Hormuz, which have been blamed on the Middle Eastern nation.

Iranian officials have denied having any involvement in the tanker strikes, but have admitted to shooting down the US drone.

The “unprovoked attack” — as military leaders have put it — sparked several tweets from Trump this week, including one that claimed “Iran made a very big mistake.”

White House officials were reportedly huddling Thursday morning to discuss a response.

According to the Times, Trump ordered bombings to be carried out Friday just before dawn. Sources told the newspaper that he chose this time in order to minimize casualties. They said it’s unclear if the president is planning to eventually move forward with the proposed strikes — only that he’s temporarily halted them.

Administration officials were reportedly split about whether Trump was making the right move, with some from the Pentagon choosing against it while others — including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John R. Bolton and CIA Director Gina Haspel — were in favor, the Times reports.

The president has been boosting the military’s firepower in the region, with recent deployments of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group as well as B-52 bombers and Patriot anti-missile defenses to Qatar. An estimated 1,000 troops are also expected to be positioned there in the coming days.

If carried out, the reported strikes would have been Trump’s third military action taken against Middle Eastern targets — with the previous attacks coming against Syria in 2017 and 2018. Democratic lawmakers were blasting the proposed move on Thursday night.

“Donald Trump promised to bring our troops home,” tweeted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of Trump’s 2020 rivals.

“Instead he has pulled out of a deal that was working and instigated another unnecessary conflict,” she said. “There is no justification for further escalating this crisis — we need to step back from the brink of war.”