US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, in Washington, DC, in April, 2025 (Kevin Mohatt - Reuters)
President Donald Trump spent the week highlighting what he called a decisive U.S. role in ending the brief Israel-Iran conflict, touting a combination of precision military action and intensive diplomacy that produced a cease-fire less than two weeks after hostilities began.
Speaking to reporters before departing the White House for the NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague, the president said the United States had “obliterated” Iran’s most sensitive nuclear assets, then leveraged that show of force to push both Tehran and Jerusalem to accept a cessation of hostilities. Trump’s description echoed assessments released by the Pentagon and the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, which found Iran’s Fordo enrichment facility “rendered inoperable” and two additional sites “badly damaged.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei acknowledged “critical infrastructure” losses at the targeted locations.