Trump claims US strike on Iran 'ended the war' - as president insists nuclear sites have been 'totally obliterated'
25 June 2025, 09:55 | Updated: 25 June 2025, 11:02
Donald Trump has claimed Saturday's US airstrike on Iran has 'ended the war' in the Middle East - as the US president insisted nuclear sites in the region have been 'totally obliterated'.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Speaking from the emergency Nato summit in The Hague, Donald Trump, seated beside Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, admitted the "last thing [Iran] want to do is enrich anything right now".
Trump was seen to reject recent leaks suggesting the US airstrike had only set Iran's uranium enrichment programme back "months".
Instead, the US president stated the nuclear programme had been "totally obliterated" for "decades" to come.
Hitting out at reports suggesting the strike was less successful than the White House claims, Trump branded a host of US media outlets "scum" for their reporting.
Flanked by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the trio announced that a full FBI investigation into the leak would now take place.
Read more: Trump refuses to commit to NATO Article 5 as US piles pressure on allies to boost defence spending
It comes hours after the US President was seen to share fawning personal messages sent by the Nato Secretary-General publicly on social media.
“Mr President, dear Donald, Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer,” Mr Rutte wrote in the message.
That message was later posted by Donald Trump to his social media platform Truth Social.
“You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening,” he continued, as he elaborated on Nato nation's 5 per cent contributions.
“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” he wrote.
“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”
The move, which many viewed as an over-share, spawned concerns over the private nature of messages among world leaders - despite Sir Keir Starmer telling LBC that the UK has "a very close relationship between the UK and the US" that will keep Brits safe.
Trump's arrival in the Netherlands followed a dramatic press conference on the White House lawn on Tuesday, with the US president furiously insisting both Israel and Iran have been fighting for so long they "don't know what the f**k they are doing".
Nato leaders arrive for dinner with the Dutch Royal family
As the public-facing meeting continued, Trump was seen to brand the Iran-Israel ceasefire a "very equal agreement" when asked by the media about the apparent collapse following strikes by both nations.
"They're not going to have a bomb and they're not going to enrich," Trump insisted of Iran, likening enrichment to "taking the carpet up".
Branding the ceasefire a "tremendous victory for everyone", Trump conceded Iran was aware of a US attack.
Despite admitting Israel's actions were "a little bit of a violation" following further missile strikes on Iran, Trump then told reporters he was "very proud of them".
"They knew we were coming," Trump admitted.
Overnight, Donald Trump refused to confirm the United States is committed to NATO’s Article Five, the alliance’s founding principle.
Every member of NATO must agree to the principle of collective and mutual defence - if one member state is attacked, the others come to its defence.
Known as Article Five, this is the founding principle of the NATO alliance.
But speaking on Tuesday as he travelled to the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Mr Trump refused to say he was “committed” to the principle.
“Depends on your definition,” he said from Air Force One.
