Headline Roundup • June 16th, 2025
How Involved is the Trump Admin in the Israeli Strikes on Iran?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Since Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, President Donald Trump has offered different statements regarding the United States’ level of involvement in the strikes.
First Strikes - ‘We Knew Everything’: On Friday, Reuters (Center bias) reported speaking to Trump, who reportedly said, “We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death.” The Wall Street Journal (Center) reported asking Trump what kind of “heads-up” Israel gave him, to which he replied, “Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what's going on.” Also on Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he warned Iran an Israeli strike “would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told.”
US Declines Israeli Request: According to a Saturday report from Axios (Lean Left), Israel had asked the US over the weekend to join Israel in the bombing of Iran, but the Trump administration had declined. Axios noted, “Israel lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site… if Fordow remains operational after the operation ends, Israel will have failed in its goal to ‘eliminate' Iran's nuclear program.
Additional Strikes - ‘Nothing To Do With’: As Israel and Iran continued to exchange bombings of each other on Sunday, Trump distanced himself from the latest round of Israeli strikes. Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after 12 a.m. ET on Sunday, “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”
Coverage Note: Reuters’ headline is from early Friday, and The Telegraph’s (Lean Right) is from early Sunday. Trump’s statements in the two headlines are ostensibly referring to different Israeli strikes.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission.
Featured Coverage of this Story
REUTERS/Nathan Howard
After months of urging Israel not to strike Iran while he worked toward a nuclear deal, President Donald Trump told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday that he and his team had known the attacks were coming - and still saw room for an accord.
"We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out," Trump said.
Donald Trump angrily denied that American forces participated in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear weapons projects after Tehran alleged American involvement.
The Islamic regime claimed it has “solid proof” that US forces supported Israel in their long-range strikes, having previously promised reprisals against the likes of the UK and France.
Israel has asked the Trump administration over the past 48 hours to join the war with Iran in order to eliminate its nuclear program, according to two Israeli officials.
The big picture: Israel lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site, which is built into a mountain and deep underground. The U.S. has both within flying distance of Iran.
But the Trump administration has so far distanced itself from Israel's operation, and argued that it would be illegitimate for Iran to retaliate by striking U.S....
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