‘We Knew Everything,' Trump Tells Reuters about Israel's Strikes on Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump attends the Congressional Picnic at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 12, 2025.
WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) – After months of urging Israel not to strike Iran while he worked toward a nuclear deal, President Donald Trump told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday that he and his team had known the attacks were coming – and still saw room for an accord.
'We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out,' Trump said.
'They can still work out a deal, however, it's not too late,' he added.
Trump had repeatedly pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay an Israeli attack to give diplomacy more time, though the president himself had threatened to bomb the Gulf nation if nuclear talks failed.
Trump's shifting stance around the Israeli strikes, which he called 'excellent' and 'very successful' in a series of media interviews on Friday, offered one of the most striking examples yet of how he conducts high-stakes negotiations through both frank public rhetoric and behind-the-scenes maneuvers.
The U.S. president offered support for Israel's decision to launch a series of devastating raids in Iran, showing a willingness to embrace the use of military force to set back Tehran's nuclear program. In contrast, some allies stressed the need for restraint.
Asked if the U.S. would support Israel against Iranian counterattacks, Trump said he supported Israel. He said he was not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel's strikes but did not elaborate.
'We've been very close to Israel. We're their number one ally by far,' Trump told Reuters, adding, 'We'll see what happens.'
Later on Friday, two U.S. officials said the U.S. military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed toward Israel.
Talks in doubt
Still uncertain is whether Trump's attempt to reach an agreement with Iran to halt uranium enrichment is still viable, with a sixth round of talks still scheduled for Sunday in Oman but now in doubt after the attacks.
In negotiations with Iran, Trump sought to persuade the Iranians to give up uranium enrichment and was awaiting a counter-proposal from Iran. Tehran had balked at giving up enrichment, seemingly leaving little room for an agreement.
'They seek enrichment. We can't have enrichment,' Trump told reporters on Monday.
As the week wore on, Trump sounded increasingly resigned to the prospect that Israel would strike and hinted that he knew more than he was willing to talk about publicly.
'I don't want to say it's imminent, but it looks like something that could very well happen. Look, it's very simple, not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Other than that, I want them to be successful,' he told reporters on Thursday before the raids began.
Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Trump said he had given the Iranians 60 days to come to an agreement and that the time had expired with no deal.
'We knew just about everything,' he said. 'We knew enough that we gave Iran 60 days to make a deal and today is 61, right? So, you know, we knew everything.'
Trump said it was unclear if Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes on the country.
'Nobody knows. It was a very devastating hit,' Trump said.
Israel said it had targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Trump said the U.S. still has nuclear talks planned with Iran on Sunday but he was unsure they would take place. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was scheduled to meet an Iranian delegation in Oman.
'They're not dead,' Trump said of the U.S.-Iran talks. 'We have a meeting with them on Sunday. Now, I'm not sure if that meeting will take place, but we have a meeting with them on Sunday.'
The president had convened his top national security advisers at Camp David on Sunday night for what he said were discussions that included Iran, and he spoke to Netanyahu on Monday about Iran.
A White House official said Trump spoke with Netanyahu again on Friday. Trump also held talks about the attacks with his National Security Council in the White House Situation Room. No details of the discussions were immediately available.
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Japan Times
22 minutes ago
- Japan Times
EU reaches broad tariff deal with U.S. to avert painful trade blow
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The transatlantic pact removes a major risk for markets and the global economy — a trade war involving $1.7 trillion worth of cross-border commerce — even though it means European shipments to the U.S. are getting hit with a higher tax at the border. The goals, Trump said, were more production in the U.S. and wider access for American exporters to the European market. Von der Leyen acknowledged part of the drive behind the talks was a reordering of trade, but cast it as beneficial for both sides. "The starting point was an imbalance,' von der Leyen said. "We wanted to rebalance the trade we made, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic, because the two biggest economies should have a good trade flow.' The announcement capped off months of often tense shuttle diplomacy between Brussels and Washington. The two sides appeared close to a deal earlier this month when Trump made his 30% threat. 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Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
US and EU agree to 15% tariffs, $600bn in investments from Europe
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Von der Leyen, describing Trump as a tough negotiator, said the 15% tariff applied "across the board," later telling reporters it was "the best we could get." "We have a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world, and it's a big deal. It's a huge deal. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability," she said. The deal, which Trump said calls for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy in coming years and "hundreds of billions of dollars" of arms purchases, likely spells good news for a host of EU companies, including Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and Novo Nordisk, if all the details hold. The baseline 15% tariff will still be seen by many in Europe as too high, compared with Europe's initial hopes to secure a zero-for-zero tariff deal, though it is better than the threatened 30% rate. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal, saying it averted a trade conflict that would have hit Germany's export-driven economy and its large auto sector hard. 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Trump appeared to suggest pharmaceuticals would not be covered, leaving some question about that aspect of the deal. No fact sheet was immediately issued by the White House. "We will keep working to add more products to this list," von der Leyen said, adding that spirits were still under discussion. Eric Winograd, chief economist at AllianceBernstein in New York, noted the similarity with Japan's U.S. deal. "We will need to see how long the sides stick to the deal. From a market perspective, it is reassuring in the sense that having a deal is better than not having a deal," he said. The deal will be sold as a triumph for Trump, who is seeking to reorder the global economy and reduce decades-old U.S. trade deficits, and has already reached similar framework accords with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although his administration has not hit its goal of "90 deals in 90 days." He has periodically railed against the European Union, saying it was "formed to screw the United States" on trade. Arriving in Scotland, Trump said the EU wanted "to make a deal very badly" and said, as he met von der Leyen, that Europe had been "very unfair to the United States." Trump has fumed for years about the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with the EU, which in 2024 reached $235 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The EU points to the U.S. surplus in services, which it says partially redresses the balance. Now he argues, his tariffs are bringing in "hundreds of billions of dollars" of revenues for the U.S., while dismissing warnings from economists about the risk of inflation. On July 12, Trump threatened to apply a 30% tariff on imports from the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. The EU had prepared countertariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods in the event there was no deal, and Trump made good his 30% tariff threat. Some member states had also pushed for the bloc to use its most powerful trade weapon, the Anti-Coercion Instrument, to target U.S. services in the event of a no-deal.
NHK
an hour ago
- NHK
Trump says US, EU agree on 15% tariff
US President Donald Trump says he has reached a tariff agreement with the European Union. He met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland on Sunday. After the talks, the two spoke to reporters. Trump had said Washington would impose a 30 percent levy on goods from the EU starting on August 1. But he said the rate will be set at 15 percent. Trump explained that automobiles and nearly everything else will be subject to that rate. But he said the 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports will remain unchanged. Trump said the EU is going to agree to buy 750 billion dollars' worth of energy from the US and make new investments of 600 billion dollars in the country. Trump also said all of the EU countries will be opened up to trade with the US at a zero tariff. He said he thinks the agreement is the biggest deal ever made. Von der Leyen said they reached a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world, and that it will bring stability and predictability.
