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Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States knew where Iran’s supreme leader hides, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei The Israeli-Iranian conflict But does not want him to killed “for now”.
Trump has urged Iran’s “unconditional surrender” in a public networks on social networks when the five -day conflict continues to degenerate.
“We know exactly where the so-called” supreme chief “hides,” added Trump. “It is an easy target, but it is sure there – we are not going to take it out (kill!), At least not for the moment. But we do not want missiles to be fired on civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is thin.”
Trump’s increasingly muscular comments to the Iranian government come after He urged the 9.5 million Tehran residents to flee For their lives when he interrupted his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent interviews with his national security team.
The comments on Khamenei and the calls to surrender came shortly after Trump in a separate publication presented a complete control of the sky on Tehran.
Trump made the White House of his visit abbreviated to The group of seven summit In Canadian Rockies, early Tuesday at a time of choice in his presidency. Israel, with five days of missile strikes, caused considerable damage to Iran and considers that it can now take a permanent blow to the Tehran nuclear program – in particular if it obtains a little more aid from the Republican President.
But the deepening of American involvement, perhaps by providing Israelis with bunker bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites built deep underground or offer another direct American military support, is accompanied by a huge political risk for Trump.
Trump, when he returned to Washington, expressed his frustration with regard to Iranian leaders for not having concluded an agreement. He said he was now looking for “a real end” in the conflict and a “complete abandonment” of the Tehran nuclear program.
“They should have concluded the agreement. I said to them:” Agree “,” said Trump to journalists on Air Force One. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much mood to negotiate.”
Iran insisted that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, and US intelligence agencies have evaluated that Tehran does not actively pursue a bomb.
Trump, who planned to meet advisers in the situation room, seems to be gradually building the public affair for a more direct American role in the conflict. His change in tone comes like the United States repositioned warships And military planes in the region to react whether the conflict between Israel and Iran still degenerates.
Trump made an early start from G7
The White House announced on Monday, when Trump was at The group of seven summit In the Canadian rocks, he interrupted his trip.
“He simply said that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he wrote on social networks. “I said it again and again!” Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran! ”
Asked about his evacuation commentary aboard the Air Force One, Trump told journalists: “I just want people to be safe.”
“We are looking for better than a ceasefire. We are not looking for a cease-fire,” said Trump.
Trump said he was not excluded a diplomatic option and that he could send the vice-president JD Vance and Steve Witkoff Special Envoy To meet the Iranians.
President Donald Trump speaks with journalists while stealing on board the Air Force One on the way to Calgary, in Canada, at Joint Base Andrews, MD., Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP photo / Mark Schiefelbein)
He also rejected the testimony of the Congress of the National Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who told legislators in March that American spy agencies did not think that Iran built a nuclear weapon.
“I don’t care what she said,” said Trump. “I think they were very close to having it.”
Speculation is developing that Trump can bow towards more direct involvement
The Israelis say that their offensive has gone up to Iran’s air defenses and that they can now hit targets across the country at will. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli bombing will continue until Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles are destroyed.
So far, Israel has targeted several Iranian nuclear program sites But has not been able to destroy the installation of the enrichment of Fordo Uranium of Iran.
The site is buried deep underground-and to eliminate it, Israel may need the massive GBU-57 GBU-57 penetrator, which uses its weight and its pure kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. But Israel does not have the ammunition or the bomber necessary to deliver it – the penetrator is currently delivered by the stealth bomber B -2.
Israel’s own defenses remain largely intact in the face of Iran’s reprisal strikes, but some of Tehran’s missiles pass and have a deadly impact.
The White House sent the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for an appearance on television during great listening hours while speculation develops on the question of whether Trump could bow to a more direct American involvement. Hegseth told Fox News Channel that “of course” Trump wanted to see an agreement concluded to slow down the Iran nuclear program.
President Donald Trump arrives for a military parade commemorating the army’s 250th anniversary, coinciding with his 79th anniversary in Washington, as army secretary Daniel Driscoll and the defense secretary Pete Hegseth Watch. (AP photo / Julia Demaoree Nikhinson)
“His position has not changed,” said Hegseth. “What you look at in real time is peace through strength and America first. Our job is to be strong. We are defensively postulated in the region to be strong in search of a peace agreement. And we certainly hope that is what is happening here. ”
Trump continues to push Iran to negotiate its nuclear program
Trump, on the other hand, during an exchange with journalists on the G7 sidelines, refused to say what it would take in the United States to get more directly involved. Instead, he continued to pressure Iran on negotiations on his nuclear program.
“They should speak and they should speak immediately,” Trump said at a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He added: “I would say that Iran does not win this war.”
To be sure, Trump in the old -day conflict sought to remember Netanyahu. He rejected a plan Presented by Israel in the United States to kill Khamenei, according to an American official familiar with the case, who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive issue and spoke of the state of anonymity.
Iranian demonstrators sing slogans while one of them holds a poster of the supreme chief of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an anti-Israeli rally in Tehran, Iran, Friday June 13, 2025. (AP photo / Vahid Salemi)
The Israelis had informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.
An enlargement of Schism on Iran among the supporters of Maga of Trump
Trump bristled when he was asked about some of his faithful Maga, including the conservative expert Tucker Carlson, who suggested that more American involvement would be a betrayal for supporters who were attracted by his promise to put an end to the United States in expensive and endless wars.
“Do anyone please explain to Kooky Tucker Carlson that” Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon! “” Wrote the president on social networks.
Other Trump supporters also have raised concerns How far the president should go to support Israel.
The representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and the founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, are among the eminent allies of the world of Trump who noted that the voters had supported Trump because he had promised not to prevent the nation in foreign clashes and to be wary of the enlargement of the involvement of the United States in the conflict in the Middle East.
He ran on a promise to quickly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, but had trouble finding an end of the game.
But there are also Trump donors, including Senator Lindsey Graham, Rs.C., who prove that it is Trump’s moment to carry a decisive blow to Iran. Graham calls on Trump to “go everything” to support Israel and destroy the Iranian nuclear program.
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The writers of the Associated Press Josh Boak, Tara Copp, Darlene Superville and Will Weissert contributed to this report.
