Trump: “I might have forced Israel’s hand”

President Trump on Tuesday rejected the suggestion that Israel's plans to strike Iran prompted him to launch U.S. attacks, saying instead that he may have influenced Israel's timing.

"No, I might have forced their hand," he told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, marking the first time he had taken on-camera questions since the campaign began early Saturday morning.

"If anything, I might have forced Israel's hand, but Israel was ready, and we were ready, and we've had a very, very powerful impact, because virtually everything they have has been knocked out now. Their missile count is going way down."

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. acted "preemptively" after learning Israel was preparing to strike, citing concerns about retaliation against American forces.

"We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action," the secretary told reporters on Capitol Hill. "We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties."

President Trump also said he was surprised that Iran retaliated by targeting its Arab neighbors in the Middle East, striking not only U.S. military bases but also civilian areas.

"Amazingly, they're hitting countries that were, you know, let's call them neutral, right? They lived together for a long time," he said. "I think they were surprised. I was surprised, and now those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them."

The president said Iran's retaliatory strikes demonstrate "the level of evil that we're dealing with."

"They'll hit people that were actually at least somewhat friendly, and they had no problems with," he said. "Also hitting only civilian places, hotels and apartment buildings, and we're hitting them where it is much more appropriate. We're hitting them very hard."