Before boarding Marine One en route to a NATO summit in the Netherlands, former President Donald Trump launched a series of striking remarks on the Middle East, denounced U.S. media networks, and expressed frustration with the unraveling of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
“I’m not happy that Israel is going out,” Trump told reporters gathered on the South Lawn. “There was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard. It was after the time limit, and it missed its target, and now Israel is going out. These guys got to calm down. Ridiculous.”
The former president appeared visibly frustrated as he addressed the press, lamenting both Israel’s military response and Iran’s actions following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. “I didn’t like plenty of things I saw yesterday,” Trump said. “They didn’t have to unload. And I didn’t like the fact that the retaliation was very strong.”
He criticized what he described as Israel’s premature and overwhelming air campaign immediately after the ceasefire agreement, which he claimed undermined the U.S.’s diplomatic efforts. “When I say, ‘Okay, now you have 12 hours,’ you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them.”
Pressed on whether Iran violated the ceasefire as well, Trump said, “I do. They violated it. But Israel violated it, too.”
The remarks come amid growing international concern that the region may spiral back into sustained conflict following the collapse of a brief truce. Trump’s comments signal a rare public rebuke of Israel’s military decisions, even as he simultaneously sought to cast himself as an even-handed broker. “All I do is play both sides,” he said. “We have to have Israel calm down… I’m going to see if I can stop it.”
Trump’s comments also touched on the issue of women’s rights in the Middle East. When asked about the treatment of women in the region, he praised recent developments, particularly in Saudi Arabia. “It’s getting a lot better. Things are happening at a high level. Saudi Arabia has done a really good job. So we’re very happy about what’s happening with women in the Middle East.”
Turning to reports that Iran’s nuclear facilities may not have been completely destroyed in recent U.S.-supported strikes, Trump dismissed the claims and lashed out at the media. “That place is under rock. That place is demolished,” he said. “CNN is scum, and so is MSDNC. They’re all… fake news. The pilots hit their targets, those targets were obliterated.”
He accused major cable news outlets of undermining the military’s accomplishments, saying, “They’re not after the pilots, they’re after me. They want to try and demean.”
In an expletive-laced moment that concluded his remarks, Trump summed up his view of the conflict with unfiltered bluntness: “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. Do you understand that?”
With that, Trump turned and walked toward Marine One, ignoring a volley of shouted questions from reporters.
The NATO summit he is attending is expected to feature discussions on defense spending, collective security, and emerging global crises — but his unscripted comments on Israel and Iran are likely to overshadow the agenda even before he lands.
