President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believes the current ceasefire with Iran is over after an exchange of attacks between the U.S. and Iran, the latest escalation straining the agreement to end the war – and he said he may hit Iran with more strikes tonight.
"I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum," Trump told reporters in Ankara, Turkey, where he is attending the NATO summit.
The stunning turnaround comes after Trump recently celebrated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran to help end the war he and Israel started. Trump insisted the deal would bring "peace and security" to the region. But within just weeks, he's amped up aggression.
"We hit them very hard last night. Probably hit them hard again tonight," he said.
Trump said the U.S. hasn't attacked Iran at the "highest level" yet, saying he could hit electric plants and desalination plants.
"I don't want to do that but if we have to, we'll take them out," Trump said. Attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.
He also floated the idea of reinstituting the naval blockade on Iran.
Trump is expected to take more questions during a Wednesday press conference.
Trump's declaration in Ankara that the understanding is moot has already impacted markets, with oil prices starting to climb again. And it leaves his party, and his own approval ratings, in a precarious position once again with four months until the midterm election and little time to remedy the conflict that Americans have disapproved of from the start.
The president, however, did not rule out talks continuing to permanently end the war with Iran.
He said the top U.S. negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, want to continue to negotiate.
But, Trump added, "as far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars," he said.
There was no immediate response from the Iranian government.
Trump's comments came after the U.S. and Iran traded attacks again overnight Wednesday, the second such escalation since the two sides signed an interim deal in mid-June.
The strikes followed Tuesday's attacks from Iran on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. said it carried out strikes on Iranian targets in what it said was retaliation for the previous Iranian aggression. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said it responded to those strikes by launching missiles and drones against Kuwait and Bahrain, two Arab Gulf countries that host U.S. military bases.
Trump is in Ankara, to attend the NATO summit, where he has continued to air grievances, lamenting that European countries don't contribute enough to their own defense spending, as Russia's war against Ukraine has dragged on.
He has also expressed frustration since the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran began that Europe hasn't been supportive enough of his agenda.
Earlier in the day, the president said he was "testing" allies on how they'd help with the war.
"Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it's OK, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they're not there for us? We've always been there for them," Trump said.
The tension between Trump and NATO nations has also grown as the president continued on Tuesday to insist that the U.S. should have control of Greenland, a territory currently under Denmark.
Despite friction in the alliance, Trump and the allies have found common ground on Ukraine.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the gathering, and said that the U.S. will allow Ukraine a license to produce Patriot Missiles, which he called "pretty cool."
"We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots … This way, you can't complain that we're not giving 'em enough," Trump said in the meeting with Zelenskyy.
Negotiating an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been an elusive goal for Trump, who has teased recently that the end of the war is "getting closer," without providing much further detail. He also said he would soon speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday, Trump met with the leader of the host nation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he considers a friend. The two discussed the U.S. potentially selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey — despite there being a congressional ban in place that prevents this.
"We have a very good relationship. … Why wouldn't we do that?" Trump said in his meeting with Erdogan.
Tina Kraja in Washington, D.C., contributed reporting to this story.
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