Senior White House reporter for CBS News Jennifer Jacobs tweeted early Tuesday morning that President Donald J. Trump said early Tuesday that he was not seeking a ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli-Iranian conflict but instead wants a “real end” to Iran’s nuclear ambitions – including a complete abandonment of its weapons program.
Iran is “very close” to a nuclear weapon, he said. “I don’t care what she said I think they were very close to having them,” Trump told us on AF1 when asked about Tulsi Gabbard testimony in March.
I asked him about efforts to help Americans leave the region, with commercial…
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 17, 2025
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after midnight, following his departure from the G7 summit in Canada, Trump said he would spend the morning in the White House Situation Room monitoring developments in the Middle East. “I didn’t say I was looking for a ceasefire,” he said. “I want a real end — with Iran giving up entirely.”
Trump appeared to endorse Israel’s current course of action, predicting that strikes against Iranian targets would continue unabated. “You’re going to find out over the next two days,” he said. “Nobody’s slowed up so far.”
He also defended his decision to leave Canada early, saying he needed to be in Washington to be “well versed” in real-time developments and not reliant on phone updates. “This isn’t a time to be away,” he said.
Asked whether he would send an envoy – potentially Vice President J.D. Vance or Steve Witkoff, his adviser on Middle East affairs – to speak with Iranian officials, Trump said only that he “may,” adding, “It depends what happens when I get back.”
He warned Iran against any aggression targeting American forces in the region. “If they do anything to our people, we would come down so hard,” he said.
Trump declined to say whether General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had presented him with military options should Iran target U.S. bases. “I can’t tell you that,” he said.
When asked whether Congressional leaders had been briefed, Trump said discussions with the Gang of Eight (the top eight Republicans and Democrats in both houses) were planned but not yet necessary. “We’ll be talking to them,” he said.
He also cast doubt on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s assertion in March that Iran was not close to a nuclear weapon. “I don’t care what she said – I think they were very close,” Trump said.
The administration, he said, is working to help Americans leave the region amid widespread airspace closures. “We’re doing the best we can,” he said.
Trump said he had not seen evidence that North Korea or Russia had become more directly involved in aiding Iran, nor had he yet read the G7 joint statement. “I authorized them to say certain things,” he said, adding that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “did a good job hosting.”
