Trump: Israel-Iran truce holding up ‘very good’

According to the president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should be very proud of himself” after achieving Jerusalem’s war goals.

(June 25, 2025 / JNS)

U.S. Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the day-old Israel-Iran ceasefire was holding up “very good.”

“Israel came back yesterday, I was so proud of them,” the president told reporters, speaking alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the transnational military alliance’s summit in The Netherlands.

Trump said Israel had planned retaliatory strikes on Tehran on Tuesday “because they felt there was a violation,” referring to Iran launching missiles hours after the ceasefire took effect. “Technically they were right,” he noted. 

Nevertheless, “It wouldn’t have worked out very well,” he added. “I said, ‘you got to get them [fighter jets] back,’ and they came back and it was a great thing.”

“Israel got hit very hard, especially the last couple of days,” he continued. “Those ballistic missiles, boy, they took out a lot of buildings.”

Iran launched over 500 ballistic missiles at Israel over the course of the war, killing 28 people, wounding hundreds and damaging many buildings. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should be very proud of himself” after achieving Jerusalem’s war goals, said Trump.

Asked about Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s threat that Tehran would rebuild its nuclear program, Trump said “the last thing they want to do is enrich anything right now—they want to recover.”

Washington “won’t let that happen,” the president declared, adding that he believes that his administration will end up having “somewhat of a relationship” with the Islamic Republic in the wake of the conflict.

“I’ve had a relationship over the last four days; they agreed to the ceasefire and it was a very equal agreement,” the president stated. “They’re not going to have a bomb and they’re not going to enrich.”

Commenting on reports that the June 22 U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities did not lead to their complete destruction, as his administration has claimed, Trump said “they really don’t know.”

“I think Israel is going to be telling us very soon because Bibi is going to have people involved in that whole situation,” he said, using the prime minister’s nickname. Trump added, “We hear it was obliteration.”

In a statement issued early on Wednesday, Netanyahu had expressed gratitude to Trump, crediting Washington with playing a key role in defending Israel and helping eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.

Netanyahu described Washington’s decision to join the campaign as “historic,” noting that the offensive involvement was unprecedented.

“Israel has never had as great a friend in the White House,” he said in the post-truce remarks, adding that the joint operation carried far-reaching implications for Jerusalem’s security and the future of the Middle East.

The premier emphasized that the IDF had struck at the core of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, effectively sending it “to oblivion,” while warning that its attempts to rebuild would be met with the same force by Israel.