Trump insists Israel did not force US hand on Iran attack as he meets German chancellor – live

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Trump chides Starmer for unwillingness to back US strikes on Iran

While speaking to reporters today, Donald Trump also scolded UK prime minister Keir Starmer after he refused to aid the US in its ongoing war on Iran.

Starmer has allowed the limited use of British bases for defensive action to protect allied forces and nations in the Gulf and Middle East, who have been hit by a wave of retaliatory strikes. However, the prime minister has defended his decision to not join the attacks on Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies”.

Trump, for his part, was unimpressed. “I’m not happy with the UK either,” he said. “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” referring to Starmer.

The president also said the UK had been “very uncooperative” when it came to Starmer’s deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. “They they ruin relationships, it’s a shame,” Trump said, after striking a cordial relationship with the British prime minister since returning to the White House last year.

While meeting with Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, the president chided Spain after the country denied the US permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory as it continued its attacks against Iran.

Trump said that he’s instructed treasury secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Madrid.

“Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people. They have great people, but they don’t have great leadership,” the president said, while repeating his criticism of the country after it rejected Nato’s proposal for member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP.

Bessent chimed in to say that the recent supreme court ruling which invalidated many of the president’s tariffs, still allowed him to implement duties using different legal pathways. Most recently, the administration used these to institute a 15% global tariff on all imports to the US.

Donald Trump said that the “worst possible outcome” of the US-Israel war on Iran would be if a new leader takes over who is “as bad” as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a large-scale air attack on the country over the weekend.

Trump advised Iranians to not protest against the regime just yet. “It’s very dangerous out there, a lot of bombs are being dropped,” he said.

When it comes to the possible change of leadership, the president compared it to the US’s operation in capturing the now-deposed president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.

“We kept government totally intact,” Trump said. “We have Delcy [Rodriuez] who’s been very good … the relationship has been great.”

Trump said that the US and Israel are hitting Iran “where it is much more appropriate”. However, this comes after the worst mass casualty of the strikes so far was on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran. The attack killed at least 168 people.

“We’re hitting them very hard,” Trump said today. “They no longer have air protection. They no longer have any detection facilities at all left. And so they’re going to they’re going to be in for a lot of hurt. These are bad people.”

Trump insists Israel did not force US hand on Iran attack

The president insisted that Israel did not pressure the US to launch the initial strikes against Iran over the weekend.

“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,” Donald Trump said while speaking to reporters. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [Iran] were going to attack first.”

The president noted that the strikes have had a “very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out”, but expressed his surprise that the Iranian regime was launching strikes against many of its neighbours in the Middle East. “Now those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them,” Trump added.

His comments appear to contradict Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who said on Monday that the US attacked Iran after Israel was planning to strike first.

Merz also noted the importance of discussing ongoing negotiations in another conflict – the war in Ukraine.

“There are too many bad guys in this world, actually. And, this is an issue we have to talk about, because we all want to see this, war coming to an end as soon as possible,” Merz said in the Oval Office. “But Ukraine has to preserve its territory and their security interests.”

Trump and Merz meet at the White House, touts success of strikes against Iran

In his first in-person meeting with an ally since the US-Israel war on Iran began, Donald Trump welcomed German chancellor Freidrich Merz to the White House.

“We’ll obviously be talking a little bit about Iran today, and he’s been helping us out,” Trump said, while touting the military success of the operation so far.

“They have no navy it’s been knocked out. They have no air force has been knocked out. They have no air detection that’s been knocked out. Their radar has been knocked out, and just about everything’s been knocked out,” Trump said of the Iranian regime. “We’re doing very well.”

In one of the few exchanges with a Republican that appeared to be somewhat critical of Noem’s leadership, senator John Kennedy questioned the homeland security secretary about reports that DHS spent $220m on TV advertisements, where Noem was featured prominently.

The Louisiana lawmaker also noted that the contract to make the ads was awarded to a strategy group run by Noem’s former spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

“They went out to a competitive bid, and career officials at the Department chose who would do those advertising commercials,” Noem said. “I did not have anything to do with picking those contractors.”

Top congressional Democrats demand specific answers from Trump officials ahead of briefing

Ahead of a classified briefing later today for all members of the Senate and House of Representatives about the US war with Iran, a group of top Democratic lawmakers have sent a letter to the Trump administration demanding specific answers about Washington’s strategy in the conflict.

“The decision to initiate or expand armed conflict is among the gravest responsibilities entrusted to our government. When US forces are placed in harm’s way, Congress and the American people are owed clear objectives, legal justification, and a defined strategy. Unfortunately, to date, you have failed to articulate this information,” reads the letter addressed to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio, CIA director John Ratcliffe and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Dan Caine, all of whom are set to address lawmakers this afternoon.

The letter, which was signed by the top Democrats on the House committees on foreign affairs, armed services, appropriations, intelligence and the defense appropriations subcommittee, continues by outlining specific areas the lawmakers want the briefing to address.

These include the legal justification for the war, the specific US objectives in the conflict, details of its costs and impact on the military’s overall readiness and Washington’s assessment of who is leading Iran after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The same administration officials yesterday briefed a smaller group of congressional lawmakers, and two Democrats who attended found their answers lacking. You can read more about that below.

Friedrich Merz arrives at White House for Trump meeting

The press pool covering Donald Trump’s meeting with German chancellor Merz note that he has arrived. He entered the White House campus via the executive office building – which houses the vice-president’s office.