Trump says most Iranian capabilities already 'knocked out'

Trump says he may have forced Israel’s hand into war with Iranian ‘lunatics’

US president says Iran was ‘going to attack first,’ most people he’d considered as potential future leaders of Iran ‘are dead’; said to have spoken with Netanyahu 15 times in run-up to war

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied that Israel dragged the US into war with Iran, insisting that if anything, the opposite could be true and that he felt Iran was going to attack first.

Speaking at a press conference in the Oval Office alongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump also asserted that Iran’s military capabilities have been “knocked out” and speculated on who could lead the country following the death of supreme leader Ali Khamenei in an Israeli strike.

Asked by a reporter whether Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forced the US into joining a war against Iran, Trump offered a denial that seemed to counter comments made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio a day earlier.

“No, I might have forced their hands. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [the Iranians] were going to attack first,” Trump claimed.

Pentagon briefers on Sunday reportedly told Congress that the US did not have intelligence that Iran was planning a preemptive strike against the US. On Monday, Rubio suggested that Washington attacked only after learning that ally Israel was going to strike.

“They were going to attack. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that,” Trump said of Iran on Tuesday. “So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” he added. “But Israel was ready, and we were ready.”

A Channel 12 news report on Tuesday said that Trump and Netanyahu spoke some 15 times in the two months before the attacks were launched, and that the US president gave a green light to the operation after waiting to see if the last-ditch nuclear negotiations with Iran would remain deadlocked.

Speaking on day four of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, Trump asserted that the Islamic Republic’s navy, air force and air defenses have been “knocked out.”

“They have no navy. It’s been knocked out. They have no air force. It’s been knocked out. They have no air detection. That’s been knocked out. Their radar’s been knocked out. Just about everything’s been knocked out. So we’ll see how we do,” Trump said.

He said that the US would continue its campaign in Iran: “The big scale hitting goes now,” he said. “They’re going to be in for a lot of hurt. First we have to finish off the military.”

He added that the US had an “unlimited” supply of “middle and upper ammunition, which is really what we’re using in this war.”

Turning to the discussion of the “day after” in Iran, Trump said the worst-case scenario would be someone taking over the country who is just as bad as the current regime.

“I guess the worst case would be — we do this, and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person… That could happen,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter. “We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back for the people.”

“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” he said. “Now we have another group. They may be dead also, based on reports.”

Asked about Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late exiled former Iranian shah, Trump said that he seems like a nice guy but that someone currently living in Iran would probably be a more suitable candidate to take over the country.

In a post on his Truth Social account earlier Tuesday, Trump said that it was “too late” to hold diplomatic talks with Iran.

“They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’” he wrote in response to a Washington Post op-ed hailing his decision to attack Iran.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday cast doubt on the prospect of negotiations with the US: “For the time being, we are very doubtful about the usefulness of negotiation,” Ali Bahreini told reporters.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump also warned Iranian dissidents against taking to the streets while the bombing is ongoing.

“If you’re going to go out and protest, don’t do it yet,” he said.

Trump claimed the death toll in Iran’s crackdown on protesters in December and January is “much more” than 35,000, after putting the number at 32,000 last week. He said those imposing the crackdown used machine guns to mow down protesters.

The US president was also asked by a reporter why plans weren’t in place to evacuate Americans from the Middle East.

“Well, because it happened all very quickly,” he said.

In an unprecedented measure, the US State Department called on all Americans to leave over a dozen countries in the Middle East on Monday, even though no evacuation flights have been offered by the US government. The State Department is urging Americans to take commercial flights out of the region, even though much of its airspace is closed.

Trump also said Tuesday that it’s possible that oil prices will climb for a “little while” but that they’ll go back down, “lower than even before” after the war ends.

While praising Merz during their meeting, Trump had harsh words on Tuesday for European allies Britain and Spain.

“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump said of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who initially refused to let US forces use UK bases, before relenting.

The US president also revived his complaints about the UK’s deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite his administration previously supporting the move. The remote Indian Ocean archipelago is home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base.

“The UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have,” Trump said.

He also criticized the British for their windmills and immigration policies and said they need to open up drilling in the North Sea.

Trump also threatened to cut off trade with Spain, whose left-wing government refused to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran and objected to raising defense funding as part of NATO.

“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said, adding: “We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it.”

Agencies, Nava Freiberg and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.