Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire 'Over' at NATO Summit After US-Iran Strikes
President Trump announced Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey that he believes the ceasefire with Iran is finished following overnight US strikes and Iranian retaliation. Trump said negotiations are 'a waste of time' as tensions escalate over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Crisis at NATO Summit
President Trump said he believes the current ceasefire with Iran is over following an exchange of attacks between the U.S. and Iran in the latest escalation straining the agreement to end the war. "I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum," Trump told reporters in Ankara, where he is attending the NATO summit.
Military Escalation
The strikes followed Tuesday's attacks 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. 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.
NATO Tensions Over Europe's Burden
President Donald Trump approved the strike plan on Iran and ordered it while attending this week's NATO summit in Turkey, a U.S. official confirmed. The president convened top officials in Ankara, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. Trump is in Ankara, Turkey, 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. 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.
Ongoing Alliance Disputes
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. Trump was expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the gathering. 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.