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.

U.S. Central Command listed more than 125 aircraft—among them B-2 bombers, F-35 and F-15 fighters, aerial refuelers, and intelligence platforms—as well as a guided-missile submarine in the strike package. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine said initial battle-damage surveys showed each objective “sustained extremely severe destruction,” setting Iran’s enrichment effort “back by years.”

The 12-Day War and the Cease-Fire Terms

Firing on Iranian facilities triggered two days of retaliatory missile launches against American positions in the Gulf and against Israeli air-defense sites. Israeli batteries intercepted most inbound projectiles; no coalition personnel were killed. After a round of behind-the-scenes talks mediated by Qatar and Oman—and coordinated from Washington—the belligerents agreed to halt offensive operations for 12 hours starting Monday evening. Under the document signed in Geneva, they pledged to wind down remaining strikes within six hours and move to a full cease-fire by the following midnight. Trump announced the deal on his Truth Social account: “COMPLETE AND TOTAL CEASEFIRE … THE 12-DAY WAR IS OVER.”

The agreement requires Iran to suspend missile launches beyond its borders and to refrain from reconstituting enrichment facilities above 3.67 percent purity. Israel, for its part, agreed to halt further kinetic action against Iranian territory and to pass intelligence on suspected violations to a U.S.-led monitoring cell instead of acting unilaterally. Enforcement provisions delegate verification of nuclear restrictions to the International Atomic Energy Agency, with an American-Israeli technical team providing additional imagery and sampling.

Praise and Skepticism

At a televised White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the sequence a textbook example of “maximum pressure to deliver peace,” noting that the president had campaigned on “peace through strength” and now had “results on the board.” She emphasized that U.S. strikes took place only after four rounds of indirect talks had failed to produce limits on enrichment, and that the cease-fire emerged within 48 hours once Iran recognized the consequences of further escalation.

Not all analysts were convinced the settlement is durable. American Enterprise Institute fellow Danielle Pletka said the public documents contain “little detail on verification mechanisms” and that Tehran has not offered a written pledge to end enrichment permanently. A preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency memo—subsequently leaked—estimated Iran could repair underground components within months. The administration dismissed the leak as inaccurate and said those responsible should face prosecution.

NATO Summit, Nuclear Talks Ahead

Landing in The Hague, Trump briefed allied heads of government on the strike packages and cease-fire terms. He told reporters the U.S. would “likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week,” adding he considered a formal agreement “helpful but not necessary” because “the last thing [Iran] wants to do is enrich anything right now.” CIA Director John Ratcliffe later issued a statement saying the strikes had “severely damaged” Iran’s program, though he cautioned against assuming irreversible effects.

The president also revealed that Israeli operatives had entered the bombed Fordo site to verify damage. “I was told they said it was total obliteration,” he claimed, insisting the operation struck before any uranium stockpile could be removed. Israeli officials neither confirmed nor denied such an inspection, but privately welcomed what they called a “significant rollback” of Iran’s breakout potential.

Regional and Market Reactions

In Tehran and Tel Aviv, residents expressed mixed relief and apprehension. Hospitals reported treating hundreds for anxiety and exhaustion after days spent in shelters or under air-raid alerts. Commercial flights resumed between Ben Gurion Airport and Gulf hubs, and Iranian state television showed traffic returning to normal on Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Expressway.

Energy markets responded swiftly. Brent crude fell 3.3 percent to $76.20 on expectations that shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz would remain open. The S&P 500 closed 0.3 percent higher, while the dollar index slipped 0.3 percent as investors rotated out of traditional safe-havens. White House economic advisers said the price drop would ease inflationary pressures linked to aviation fuel and manufacturing inputs.

Warnings of Future Force

Despite the cease-fire, Trump reiterated that any effort by Iran to restart high-level enrichment would trigger additional strikes. “I would absolutely consider bombing Iran again if enrichment reaches a concerning level,” he said, adding that Israel and the United States remained aligned on thresholds. The administration is keeping carrier strike group Lincoln in the Arabian Sea and retaining a squadron of F-35s at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE as a deterrent.

Separately, the president chastised Israel for a pre-dawn artillery response that landed inside southern Lebanon hours after the cease-fire took hold. “We got a deal—honor it,” he told reporters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replied that the shells targeted a rocket-launch crew preparing an attack and reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the cease-fire unless “Israeli lives are again placed in immediate danger.”

Domestic Political Implications

On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders praised the strikes and cease-fire as evidence of decisive leadership, while Democratic lawmakers questioned the legal basis for the initial use of force and called for classified briefings. House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking Democrat Gregory Meeks demanded the administration release full intelligence supporting claims of nuclear progress at Fordo. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged a broader diplomatic process, warning that “tactical success does not equal strategic stability.”

Public polling conducted by Ipsos after the cease-fire showed 58 percent of registered voters approving of the president’s handling of the crisis, a nine-point jump from surveys taken before the strikes. Among independents, approval rose 11 points. The White House plans a prime-time address next week to outline next steps with Tehran and to press Congress on defense appropriations.

Next on the Agenda

U.S. and Iranian delegations are scheduled to meet in Muscat for technical talks under Omani auspices. Agenda items include dismantling damaged centrifuge halls, transferring enriched material to third-party storage, and potential U.S. sanctions relief calibrated to compliance milestones. European Union foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU would support verification logistics but would “not reopen” the 2015 JCPOA framework.

As Trump boarded Air Force One for his return flight, he framed recent events as a template for future crises: “Strength first, diplomacy second, peace third.” Whether the formula holds will depend on the implementation of the cease-fire and the outcome of next week’s Muscat talks, but for now the president is claiming credit for averting a wider regional war while inflicting what he calls “permanent setbacks” on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.