U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed allegations that his support for Israel in its war against Iran was at odds with his “America First” commitment, stating that preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear arms was a top U.S. priority.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, very simple. Regardless—Israel or not Israel—Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb,” Trump told The Atlantic for an interview published on Saturday.
“For those people who say they want peace, you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don’t want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon—that’s not peace,” Trump added.
His remarks were in response to a question about critics, including Tucker Carlson, who have argued that U.S. support for Israel during its war with Iran, which broke out Thursday, was contrary to Trump’s avowed “America First” policy of prioritizing U.S. interests over international ones, including those of allies.
“Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that,” he said.
On the TruthSocial platform, Trump wrote that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had called Trump to wish him a happy birthday. (He turned 79 on June 14.)
“More importantly,” Trump said, the two spoke “about Iran, a country [Putin] knows very well. We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week.” During the call, which Trump said took about an hour, Putin said that he “feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,” Trump wrote.
Israel’s strikes against Iran, involving hundreds of fighter jets and thousands of sorties, were to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons following an escalation in Tehran’s efforts to obtain them, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.
Trump has expressed a preference for a negotiated solution with Iran, but has stopped short of demanding Israel stop its attack, which was reportedly coordinated with the United States.
According to CBS, the Trump administration was aware of the planned strikes and informed allies of it, stressing there was no U.S. operation and that the Israeli actions did not involve American assets.
Trump voiced a similar message on Truth Social on Sunday, adding a threat of retaliation should the United States be targeted by Iran.
“The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” Trump wrote.