An angry Trump decries Israel, Iran for breaking ceasefire
Trump spoke ahead of flying to Europe to meet with NATO allies.
By Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing and Jake Traylor
A visibly frustrated President Donald Trump condemned Israel and Iran Tuesday morning for violating a ceasefire that he had heralded one day earlier.
“We have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn before departing to meet with NATO allies in the Netherlands.
The president also suggested that the two countries might not have broken the ceasefire intentionally but quickly added that he planned to speak with Israeli leaders to persuade them to call off additional attacks.
Moments after talking with reporters, Trump’s irritation manifested in an all caps Truth Social post insisting Israel not strike Iran.
“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
Trump asserted in a corresponding post to his social media site that Israel was not going to attack Iran and that all planes would “turn around and head home.”
On Monday night, Trump told NBC News he expected the ceasefire to last “forever.” But Iran reportedly launched further attacks on Israel early Tuesday and Israel Defense Force’s chief of general staff said the country intends to respond with force.
“I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all and I’m going to see if I can stop it,” Trump said before boarding Marine One.
According to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are engaging in “ongoing conversations.”
“The president wants cooler heads to prevail, and we do as well,” Johnson told “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday morning.
For his part, Johnson said he had reached out to his Israeli counterpart, the speaker of the Knesset, to echo “our plea to them not to retaliate and not to escalate.”
Still, Johnson struck a hopeful tone, saying that he is “optimistic” about U.S. efforts to “calm the situation down.”
The House speaker also downplayed reports that Iran is already making plans to rebuild its nuclear program.
“I think it’s more talk than action over there,” Johnson said, adding that Iran had been “embarrassed on the world stage” after two weeks of Israeli and U.S. attacks on their nuclear facilities and military command.
But Johnson still expressed frustration that Iran had so quickly signaled its plans to reconstitute its nuclear facilities.
“It’s madness,” the speaker said. “The idea that they would put out a statement like that at this fragile moment is frustrating. It goes to show you why Iran has always been irrational actor. They’re not to be trusted. But we’ve got to use force.”
Meanwhile, aboard Air Force One, Trump said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had called to ask if he could help with Iran. Trump said he told Putin: “I need help with you.”
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