President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed speculation that Israel dragged the U.S. into a military conflict with Iran, saying he might have "forced their hand" because of what he described as an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic.
Trump made the remarks during an impromptu news conference in the Oval Office while meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. His comments aired live on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform.
"No, I might have forced their hand," Trump said. "You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. ... I felt strongly about that. And we have great negotiators, great people, people that do this very successfully and have done it all their lives, very successful. And based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. And I didn't want that to happen.
"So, if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand. But Israel was ready and we were ready. And we've had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out."
Washington and Tehran had been engaged in high-stakes negotiations over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program since June, when U.S. B-2 Spirit bombers destroyed three Iranian nuclear facilities. The sides last held talks Thursday in Geneva.
Trump also said he was surprised that Iran attacked other Arab nations in the region that he described as "neutral."
"Amazingly, they're hitting countries that were, you know, let's call them neutral," he said. "They lived together for a long time. I think they were surprised. I was surprised. And now those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them.
"All of a sudden they had missiles shot in, which shows you the level of evil that we're dealing with. They'll hit people that were actually at least somewhat friendly, and they had no problems with it. Also hitting only civilian places, hotels and apartment buildings.
"And we're hitting them where it is much more appropriate. We're hitting them very hard. And the big-scale hitting goes now. They no longer have air protection. They no longer have any detection facilities at all left. So, they're going to be in for a lot of hurt."
Trump said thousands of Iranian civilian protesters had been "violently killed" by the Iranian government over the past three weeks.
He also noted that "the leader of the pack is gone," referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 during the opening salvo of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes.
"As you know, 49 people were taken out in the first hit," he said of Iran's political leaders. "And I guess there was another hit today on the new leadership. And it looks like that was pretty substantial also."
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a building in Qom that was hosting Iran's 88-member Council of Experts, the clerical body responsible for selecting a new supreme leader. Israel's air force used approximately 100 fighter jets to drop more than 250 bombs on the complex, The Jerusalem Post reported. Iranian news agencies reported the building was flattened. Details remain unclear about how many clerics were present and the number of casualties.
"So, they're getting hit very hard and we'll see what happens," Trump said. "A lot of people are coming forward. A lot of the people you at least suspect want to quit. They want to have immunity. They're asking for immunity. And probably at some point they'll be dropping, as you would say, laying down their guns. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, we're just continuing to go forward."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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