“Israel attacked first. It was a very, very powerful attack. I am the one mainly responsible,” Trump told reporters. “When Israel struck Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack caused more damage than all previous strikes combined.”
This marks the first time a U.S. president has publicly acknowledged Washington’s role in the Israel–Iran confrontation, which threw the Middle East into severe tension earlier this year.
According to international sources, on June 13, Israel launched a large-scale airstrike on Iranian territory without direct provocation. The targets included several senior military officers, nuclear scientists, and research facilities, resulting in dozens of deaths, including many civilians.
Iran responded with hundreds of missiles aimed at Israeli territory. Shortly after, the U.S. officially joined the conflict, carrying out airstrikes on three major Iranian nuclear facilities.
However, in the early hours of the conflict, Washington insisted that Israel had “acted unilaterally” and warned Tehran not to attack U.S. forces or interests in the region.
At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared:
“Tonight, Israel has taken unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in these attacks, and our top priority remains the protection of U.S. forces.”
A ceasefire was reached after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. airbase in Qatar, ending the most dangerous phase of escalation.
Since the war, Trump has repeatedly claimed that his administration “completely eliminated Iran’s nuclear program,” describing it as a major military and diplomatic victory.
However, analysts note that his latest comments suggest the U.S. may have been involved in the attack plan from the beginning, something the White House had previously denied.
Iran has yet to release an official assessment of the damage but insists its nuclear program remains “functional,” thanks to years of accumulated scientific capability. The status of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains undisclosed.
During his re-election campaign, Trump has often promoted himself as the “candidate of peace,” opposing U.S. involvement in new wars. Yet his role in the Iran attack raises questions about the consistency of Washington’s foreign policy.
In the early months of his second term, Trump opened talks with Tehran over its nuclear program and expressed hope for a comprehensive deal — one that could include formal relations between Iran and Israel.
However, after the airstrikes, diplomacy stalled. Analysts believe Washington no longer feels urgency to revive negotiations, while Tehran has grown increasingly skeptical of U.S. intentions.
A planned U.S.–Iran dialogue round scheduled for June — just days before Israeli jets struck Tehran — has now been revealed, by Trump himself, to have been “part of a strategy for which I was mainly responsible.”