From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Trump: ‘I need Israel to calm down. Do not drop those bombs. Bring your pilots home, now!’
US President Donald Trump says that both Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire he announced overnight, and that Israel needed to turn its planes around and not strike Tehran in response to ballistic missile fire.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump says Israel “unloaded” right after agreeing to the deal overnight. “They didn’t have to unload,” he says.
“Now Israel is going out [to strike Iran] because of one rocket that didn’t land anywhere,” he says.
A short time later, Trump writes on social media that Israel must turn its planes around. Israel had said it would “forcefully strike the heart of Tehran” after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel after the start of the ceasefire.
“I gotta get Israel to calm down now,” he says. “I’m gonna see if I can stop it.”
“Israel. Do not drop those bombs. If you do it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now! Donald J. Trump, president of the United States,” he writes on Truth Social.
It is not clear what Trump is referring to in saying Israel violated the ceasefire, though he seems to be referring to the aforementioned intense overnight strikes, and not alleging that it fired after 7 a.m., the ostensible start time of the truce.
Israel’s most recent strikes in Iran targeted missile launchers primed to fire during early morning barrages between 5 a.m.-7 a.m. The Israel Defense Forces says that the action resulted in the salvos being less severe.
Prior to that, Israel carried out intense strikes in the hours after Trump announced the truce but before the supposed 7 a.m. start time.
The Times of Israel Community.