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Trump slams European allies, praises China and continues to justify Iran attack
US president blasted Spain for denying access to its military bases for his bombing campaign, but boasts of ‘good relationship with China’
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US President Donald Trump used a White House meeting with the German Chancellor on Tuesday to blast European allies, praise China, waffle on tariffs and argue that the attack he launched against Iran prevented a nuclear war.
Attended by Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that his order to attack Iran even as negotiations were under way was justified.
“If we didn’t do what we’re doing right now, you would have had a nuclear war. And they would have taken out many countries, because, you know what, they’re sick people,” the US president said, adding that the US military had been successful against numerous Iranian naval and air targets. “Just about everything has been knocked out.”
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Trump appeared to walk back Rubio’s assertion that Israel triggered the war. “I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
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US President Donald Trump seeks to justify striking Iran amid shifting White House account
US President Donald Trump seeks to justify striking Iran amid shifting White House account
Trump has upended traditional US economic, trade and security policy by cosying up to long-standing adversaries China, Russia and North Korea and slamming many long-standing US allies in Europe and Asia.
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The president took particular aim on Tuesday at Spain, which has refused to let the US military use jointly operated bases on its territory – notably a naval base at Rota and an airbase at Morón – during Washington’s ongoing conflict with Iran.
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