How Trump turned the air blue as his ceasefire nearly unravelled

Telegraph

6 hours ago

Donald Trump went to bed believing he had secured a ceasefire in the Middle East.
He woke up to news that Israel was about to unleash its warplanes on Iran after being targeted by rocket strikes.
His fury was clear when he spoke to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.
'They've been fighting for so long and so hard they don't know what the f--- they're doing,' he said, before turning on his heel and stalking off towards Marine One, the presidential helicopter.
He was on his way to the Hague for a Nato summit. Organisers had gone out of the way to tailor the event to Mr Trump, shortening it to a single meeting, putting spending commitments at the heart of the discussion, and giving him a night in a royal palace.
But if the US president thought his trip to the Hague would be a victory lap – for ending Iran's nuclear weapons programme and limiting Tehran's retaliation – then Iran and Israel had other ideas.
And, as Mr Trump transferred from his helicopter to Air Force One for the flight to the Netherlands, he kept up his stream of public posts and private diplomacy as he tried to make good on his promise not to allow the US to be dragged into another foreign war.
'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION,' he posted on his Truth Social platform in all capitals. 'BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW! DONALD J TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.'
A carefully coordinated negotiation was coming unstuck.
A day earlier he had spoken with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, to set out the proposed terms of a ceasefire, according to Politico.
His next call was with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, who would act as a go-between with the Iranians.
JD Vance, his vice-president, and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, were also involved in that side of the conversation, according to a source familiar with how it all unfolded.
The deal was done by the end of the afternoon.
Tehran was ready for a ceasefire because after days of strikes it was in a badly 'weakened state', said a White House official.
A first six-hour window would allow both sides to complete their 'final missions'. Iran would be the first to enter the truce, followed by Israel after 12 hours.
After another 12 hours the war would be over.
'THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!' he posted late on Monday night, using Truth Social as if it were the official government gazette.
Minutes after the deadline, air raid sirens were sounding across Israel.
'At 07.06am, Iran launched one missile at Israeli territory, and two additional missiles at 10.25am,' said Mr Netanyahu's office in a statement.
Explosions sounded around the Iranian capital Tehran.
By the time Mr Trump left the White House he had tough words to give both sides. But he reserved most of his fury for Israel.
He even suggested that Iran's ceasefire-breaking missiles had been launched by accident.
'I'm not happy that Israel's going out now,' he told reporters who had gathered to watch him leave, as Israeli jets were in the air.
'There was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard [by Iran]. It was after the time limit, and it missed its target. And now Israel's going out. These guys gotta calm down. Ridiculous...'
He telephoned Mr Netanyahu as he flew out of Washington.
A White House official told The Telegraph that the president had been 'exceptionally firm and direct' with the Israeli prime minister about what would happen next.
'The prime minister understood the severity of the situation and the concerns president Trump expressed,' they said.
And a statement soon followed from the Israelis saying that they had destroyed a radar station.
'Pursuant to the conversation between president Trump and prime minister Netanyahu, Israel has refrained from additional attacks,' it said.
Mr Trump described the call when he strolled to the back of Air Force One to chat with reporters.
'Yeah. I said, you've got to turn back the planes,' he said, with Mr Rubio standing just behind him. 'They hit him very hard after we made the deal yesterday... it shouldn't have happened.'
The ceasefire was battered and bruised but held for the rest of Mr Trump's six and a half hour flight from the East Coast.
His Truth Social feed soon filled with more routine affairs. He shared headlines from the New York Post, his favourite newspaper, reposted calls for him to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and published a lengthy rant about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the liberal congresswoman, who had just been featured on Fox News.
His plane landed in the evening sun at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. As he disembarked, he paused at the top of the steps to put a white 'USA' cap over his blond hair.
Staff used to say you could tell his mood from his hat: Red signalled anger, white signalled contentment.
In recent weeks they may have taken on different symbolism. His white hat, long sidelined. has appeared at key moments as he chases peace.
'Both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the war, equally!' he posted earlier on Truth Social, as he took the credit for halting hostilities.
'It was my great honour to destroy all nuclear facilities & capability, and then, STOP THE WAR!'