WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that both Israel and Iran violated the ceasefire he announced hours earlier and that he was not happy with either country, especially Israel.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for a NATO summit in The Hague, Trump said Israel “unloaded” the deal almost immediately after agreeing to it. He also said Iran’s nuclear capability was gone.
“I didn’t like the fact that Israel unloaded it right after they made the deal. They didn’t have to unload it and I didn’t like the fact that the retaliation was very strong,” he told reporters.
“In all fairness, Israel unloaded a lot, and now I hear that Israel just pulled out because they felt it was violated by a rocket that didn’t land anywhere. We don’t want that.”
Trump said Israel launched its attacks almost immediately after reaching the deal.
“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped bombs that I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve ever seen. I’m not happy with Israel… I’m not happy with Iran either,” he said.
He added that both sides had been “fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what they’re doing,” before turning away from the cameras and heading to his helicopter.
Trump said Israel needed to calm down after he said both Israel and Iran violated the ceasefire he had tried to broker. “I have to tell Israel to calm down now.”
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Later, on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump warned Israel not to drop any more bombs on Iran or it would be a violation of the ceasefire he is trying to broker between the two countries. He posted shortly after departing the White House for a NATO summit in The Hague.
Israeli media said Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel said it would attack Iran, accusing Tehran of violating Trump’s ceasefire. The Axios report said Netanyahu told Trump he could not call off the attack and that some response was needed to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire.
Trump later said in a post on Truth Social that all the planes would turn back and go home.
