On Monday evening, President Donald Trump took a victory lap.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE,” Trump posted on Truth Social, celebrating what he cast as a personal diplomatic triumph in ending the “12-Day War.”
But by Tuesday morning, he was singing a different tune. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing,” he fumed to reporters, the ceasefire he had announced appearing to be at risk of collapse after a fresh round of Israeli airstrikes.
Trump had announced the ceasefire agreement on social media, just hours after an Iranian strike against an American airbase in Qatar that appeared to be largely symbolic.
It was immediately unclear whether the ceasefire would take hold, as Iranian officials disputed Trump’s account of the agreement. The sequencing, which required Iran to halt its attacks first, followed by Israel, also left room for confusion and mistrust.
Before dawn Tuesday, Israel struck targets in Tehran, claiming Iran had violated the truce by launching missiles overnight. Iran denied that accusation and quickly retaliated, killing four more Israelis.
Before leaving for for the NATO summit Tuesday morning, Trump lashed out publicly at both sides, but seeming particularly frustrated with Israel. “I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all,” he told reporters.
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On social media, Trump warned Israel not to launch further strikes, writing, “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran.”
Later on Tuesday, following a call between Trump and Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said Israel would not conduct additional attacks. During the call, according to Netanyahu’s office, “President Trump expressed deep appreciation for Israel, stating that it had achieved all of its war objectives, and voiced his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire.”
Iranian media reported that Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said that his country would not violate the ceasefire unless Israel did, saying that Tehran was ready to “defend the rights of the Iranian people at the negotiation table.”
