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.