US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that both Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire he announced hours earlier, and he was not happy with either country, but especially Israel.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump said Israel "unloaded" right after agreeing to the deal. He also said Iran's nuclear capabilities are gone.
"I didn't like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn't have to unload 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 Israel just went out because they felt it was violated by one rocket that didn't land anywhere. That's not what we want."
Israel launched its strikes almost immediately after the agreement was reached, Trump said.
"Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before. The biggest load that we've seen. I'm not happy with Israel... I'm not happy with Iran either," he said.
Also Read: Trump announces ceasefire between Israel and Iran; urges all sides to uphold it
The two sides, he added, had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing," he said before turning away from cameras and heading to his helicopter.
Trump said that Israel has to calm down after he said both Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire he tried to broker. "I gotta get 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 the fuck 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 he left the White House for a trip to the NATO summit in the Hague.
Israeli media said Trump spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after Israel said it would strike Iran, accusing Tehran of violating Trump's ceasefire. An Axios report said Netanyahu told Trump he could not cancel the attack and that some response was needed to Iran's violation of the ceasefire.
Also Read: Iran rejects Israeli claims of ceasefire violation as Tel Aviv vows intense strikes
Trump later said all the planes will turn around and head home, in a post on Truth Social.
Asked whether he wanted a regime change in Iran, Trump said he did not. "No. If there was, there was but no, I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible," he said.
"Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos. So we'll see how it goes."
On Tuesday morning, Trump announced that the ceasefire between Iran and Israel is now officially in effect and urged all parties to fully respect and adhere to it.
Taking to his official social media account, Trump posted: "THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!"
Also Read: Türkiye welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire, urges dialogue and lasting peace
Trump posted on his social media account late on Monday night that a ceasefire had been agreed upon between Israel and Iran.
"CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump claimed a 12-hour ceasefire between Israel and Iran had been reached. The ceasefire, he said, would begin in six hours.
He wrote: "Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL.
