Two days after ordering the U.S. military to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, President Trump celebrated a strategic and political victory, announcing a “complete and total ceasefire” between Iran and Israel.
Mr. Trump, who did not speak on camera Monday, let it be known on social media that Iran and Israel would begin winding down nearly two weeks of bombing and would achieve a complete ceasefire by Wednesday.
“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR.” This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!”
Iranian officials confirmed to Reuters that Iran had agreed to a ceasefire proposal.
A ceasefire that holds would provide Mr. Trump with the biggest foreign policy victory of his two terms in office.
“President Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize,” Charlie Kirk, a leader of the Trump anti-war youth faction and head of Turning Point USA, said.
Earlier Monday, Iran’s clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, posted on X: “Those who know the Iranian people and their history know that the Iranian nation isn’t a nation that surrenders.”
Earlier in the day, Iran launched missiles against a U.S. air base in Qatar in retaliation for Saturday’s strikes, but the attack was believed to be for show. Iran provided the United States with a warning, and the missiles were neutralized without any reported casualties.
Israel began bombing Iran on June 13 after the Islamic republic blew past a 60-day deadline to sign a new nuclear deal with the United States that would have entailed ending its nuclear program.
Israel has been fighting Iranian-backed Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, when the terrorist group invaded Israel and killed 1,195 people. Hamas took 251 hostages, of whom 74 were killed in captivity.
Over the past two weeks, Israeli bombs decimated Iran’s military capabilities and Israel took control of Iran’s airspace.
Iran’s retaliatory missiles struck civilian targets in Israel, including a hospital, causing damage and injuring hundreds.
Hoping to deliver a knockout blow to Iran’s nuclear capabilities, Mr. Trump ordered a U.S. strike, which dropped 14 “bunker buster” bombs and hundreds of ballistic missiles on three Iranian nuclear sites. The Saturday attack caused significant damage that Mr. Trump said “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The president has long pledged to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon and believed the government was weeks away from building a nuclear bomb.
Mr. Trump said the fighting is now all but over in less than two weeks, and America’s brief involvement has eliminated the threat of Iran firing a nuclear weapon.
“The President really hit the reset button and said, ‘Look, let’s actually produce long-term peace for the region,’” Vice President J.D. Vance said on Fox News’ “Special Report” as news broke of the ceasefire announcement. “I actually think when we look back, we will say the 12-day war was an important reset moment for the entire region.”
Mr. Trump is eager to declare victory quickly without any additional U.S. entanglements.
He has been hit with significant criticism and concern from some of the staunchest and most popular allies in his MAGA base who feel he violated a pledge to voters by thrusting the United States into the center of a Middle East conflict with the bombing raid, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer.
Mr. Trump campaigned as a peacemaker who would keep the United States out of endless Middle East wars and often proclaimed he was the only candidate who could prevent World War III.
The U.S. strikes on Iran brought an immediate threat of retaliation and a warning from Russia that other countries would provide Iran with a nuclear missile.
“We’re getting threats on our homeland. Americans abroad are being told to shelter in place. This isn’t strength. It’s escalation, and the world is on edge,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies, said on Steve Bannon’s “WarRoom” podcast.
It’s also caused infighting among Mr. Trump’s MAGA favorites.
One of the right’s most influential radio hosts, Mark Levin, called Ms. Greene a “shameless nitwit” for her anti-war criticism of Mr. Trump and for ignoring the thousands of Americans, including U.S. military personnel, killed over the years by Iran and its proxy terrorist groups.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican and now a TV talk show host, came to her defense and called Mr. Levin a warmonger.
“Mark Levin sounds like a shrill woman screeching for America to fight more wars,” Mr. Gaetz posted on X.
Mr. Trump said the “bunker buster” bombs dropped by B-2 stealth bombers and the hundreds of ballistic missiles fired by a U.S. nuclear submarine, resulted in “our obliteration” of Iran’s Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the U.S. bombs likely caused “very significant” damage to Fordo’s underground uranium enrichment plant, but an assessment is ongoing.
A ceasefire deal would mean an end to Israel’s continuing strikes that have been steadily destroying military equipment and killing off top leaders in an Iranian regime hell-bent on wiping Israel off the map.
It’s not entirely clear how much damage the U.S. strikes caused at the nuclear sites.
Some Democrats and international observers said Iran may have moved critical nuclear material days ahead of the attack, and the U.S. bombs, never tested in a real mission, may have damaged but not destroyed the nuclear facilities buried hundreds of feet underground.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, went as far as to question whether Mr. Trump lied when he said the strikes were successful in annihilating Iran’s nuclear program.
“There’s zero evidence that I’ve seen that the nuclear program was completely and totally obliterated, as Donald Trump has claimed – no evidence that has been presented to Congress to suggest that that has occurred,” he said. “Did Donald Trump tell the truth, or is he lying again?”
Mr. Trump blamed the mainstream media for questioning the efficacy of the U.S. bombing attack.
“The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — And even they say they were ‘pretty well destroyed!’” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.
The developments Monday were extremely positive for the country and for the president, Mr. Kirk said.
“Take the W and off-ramp to de-escalation,” Mr. Kirk said. “Pray for peace.”
• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.