From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Trump: US will be attacking Iran again today, ‘They keep playing us for suckers’ but deal is ‘fully negotiated’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump says the US will be attacking Iran again today after Iran shot down an American military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, even as he also says a deal with Iran has been “fully negotiated.”
He adds that Tehran is stalling on signing because it knows how “significant” the concessions would be.
“We’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard,” Trump says in the Oval Office when asked to explain his Truth Social post from earlier today, when he said that Iran would have to “pay a price” for taking too long to reach a deal. The first US attack in retaliation for the downing of the helicopter came last night.
“We hit him hard yesterday, and we hit him again hard today — in case you miss it because you don’t turn on your television set,” Trump tells reporters.
US Central Command said late last night that it targeted Iranian military assets in response to the helicopter downing, leading Iran to target several US military bases throughout the region today.
Trump again claims that the sides are close to a deal that will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon before saying that Tehran has been dragging its feet on signing a deal. The US president, on May 24, claimed the agreement was largely negotiated and for weeks before that also claimed that an agreement was on the verge of being signed.
With the US president now indicating that the US is prioritizing retaliation against Iran, it would appear that a signing is not imminent.
“They keep playing us for suckers,” Trump says, adding that Iran would be facing a far worse retaliation had the pilots in the downed helicopter been injured by the Iranian drone, which he claims was “a bomb that was lodged in the helicopter that didn’t explode.”
Asked whether he’s again considering attacking Iranian energy sites, Trump declines to answer definitively, saying he could “knock them out” if he wanted.
He adds that the US has managed to get ships through the Strait of Hormuz, including 22 last night, thanks to Iran not having a radar system.
The Times of Israel Community.