attempt to pre-empt his deposal, Hương had backed a plot led by some Đại Việt-oriented Catholic officers, including Thiệu and Nguyễn Hữu Có. They planned to remove Khánh and bring Khiêm back from Washington, D.C. The US Embassy in Saigon was privately supportive of the aim, but not ready to fully back the move as they regarded it as poorly thought out and potentially a political embarrassment due to the need to use an American plane to transport some plotters, including Khiêm, between Saigon and Washington. By this time the US relationship with Khánh had broken down and the US became more intent on a regime change as Khánh was reliant on Buddhist support, which they saw as an obstacle to an expansion of the war. In the first week of February, Taylor told the leading officers that the US was not supporting Khánh, and they thought that Khiêm was a possible replacement although not among the most preferable. However, the candidates favoured by the Americans fell behind Thảo in their planning. On 19 February, Thảo and General Lâm Văn Phát began their coup attempt, seizing the military headquarters, the post office and radio station. Thảo made a radio announcement stating that he would remove the "dictator" Khánh, and would recall Khiêm to Saigon to lead the junta. Although Khiêm was part of the plot, the timing of Thảo's announcement caught Khiêm off-guard, asleep in his Maryland home. When informed of what was happening, Khiêm sent a cable pledging "total support" to the plot. Thảo had planned for Đôn to become Defense Minister and Chief of Staff of the military, but the Dai Việt insisted on installing the Catholic Khiêm. During the announcement of the coup, Phát and others made pro-Diêm speeches and hardline Catholic statements. By this time, Khiêm was preparing to return to Saigon to join in on the action or take over if it became successful. His colleagues had anticipated that the Americans would give them an aircraft so that Khiêm could return to Vietnam, but second thoughts arose among Taylor and Westmoreland. The two American generals had lost confidence in Khánh, but the pro-Diêm political ideology being expressed by Thảo's supporters on radio alienated them, as they feared that the coup plotters would destabilize and polarize the country if they took power. The US wanted Khánh out, but were worried that Phát and Thảo could galvanize