Donald Trump claims ‘I might have forced’ Israel’s hand on Iran strikes in meeting with German chancellor – live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Donald Trump said that the “worst possible outcome” of the US-Israel war on Iran would be if a new leader takes over who is “as bad” as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a large-scale air attack on the country over the weekend.

Trump advised Iranians to not protest against the regime just yet. “It’s very dangerous out there, a lot of bombs are being dropped,” he said.

When it comes to the possible change of leadership, the president compared it to the US’s operation in capturing the now-deposed president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.

“We kept government totally intact,” Trump said. “We have Delcy [Rodriuez] who’s been very good … the relationship has been great.”

Trump said that the US and Israel are hitting Iran “where it is much more appropriate”. However, this comes after the worst mass casualty of the strikes so far was on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran. The attack killed at least 168 people.

“We’re hitting them very hard,” Trump said today. “They no longer have air protection. They no longer have any detection facilities at all left. And so they’re going to they’re going to be in for a lot of hurt. These are bad people.”

Trump claims Iran was going to attack first, adding he 'might have forced Israel's hand' to strike

The president insisted that Israel did not pressure the US to launch the initial strikes against Iran over the weekend.

“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,” Donald Trump said while speaking to reporters. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [Iran] were going to attack first.”

The president noted that the strikes have had a “very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out”, but expressed his surprise that the Iranian regime was launching strikes against many of its neighbours in the Middle East. “Now those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them,” Trump added.

His comments appear to contradict Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who said on Monday that the US attacked Iran after Israel was planning to strike first.

Merz also noted the importance of discussing ongoing negotiations in another conflict – the war in Ukraine.

“There are too many bad guys in this world, actually. And, this is an issue we have to talk about, because we all want to see this, war coming to an end as soon as possible,” Merz said in the Oval Office. “But Ukraine has to preserve its territory and their security interests.”

Trump and Merz meet at the White House, touts success of strikes against Iran

In his first in-person meeting with an ally since the US-Israel war on Iran began, Donald Trump welcomed German chancellor Freidrich Merz to the White House.

“We’ll obviously be talking a little bit about Iran today, and he’s been helping us out,” Trump said, while touting the military success of the operation so far.

“They have no navy it’s been knocked out. They have no air force has been knocked out. They have no air detection that’s been knocked out. Their radar has been knocked out, and just about everything’s been knocked out,” Trump said of the Iranian regime. “We’re doing very well.”

In one of the few exchanges with a Republican that appeared to be somewhat critical of Noem’s leadership, senator John Kennedy questioned the homeland security secretary about reports that DHS spent $220m on TV advertisements, where Noem was featured prominently.

The Louisiana lawmaker also noted that the contract to make the ads was awarded to a strategy group run by Noem’s former spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

“They went out to a competitive bid, and career officials at the Department chose who would do those advertising commercials,” Noem said. “I did not have anything to do with picking those contractors.”

Top congressional Democrats demand specific answers from Trump officials ahead of briefing

Ahead of a classified briefing later today for all members of the Senate and House of Representatives about the US war with Iran, a group of top Democratic lawmakers have sent a letter to the Trump administration demanding specific answers about Washington’s strategy in the conflict.

“The decision to initiate or expand armed conflict is among the gravest responsibilities entrusted to our government. When US forces are placed in harm’s way, Congress and the American people are owed clear objectives, legal justification, and a defined strategy. Unfortunately, to date, you have failed to articulate this information,” reads the letter addressed to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio, CIA director John Ratcliffe and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Dan Caine, all of whom are set to address lawmakers this afternoon.

The letter, which was signed by the top Democrats on the House committees on foreign affairs, armed services, appropriations, intelligence and the defense appropriations subcommittee, continues by outlining specific areas the lawmakers want the briefing to address.

These include the legal justification for the war, the specific US objectives in the conflict, details of its costs and impact on the military’s overall readiness and Washington’s assessment of who is leading Iran after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The same administration officials yesterday briefed a smaller group of congressional lawmakers, and two Democrats who attended found their answers lacking. You can read more about that below.

Friedrich Merz arrives at White House for Trump meeting

The press pool covering Donald Trump’s meeting with German chancellor Merz note that he has arrived. He entered the White House campus via the executive office building – which houses the vice-president’s office.

In a short while, Donald Trump will welcome German chancellor Friedrich Merz to the White House.

Since Merz will be the first foreign leader to visit Trump since strikes on Iran, there is no escaping this issue – even if the German chancellor would rather focus on other matters.

Merz is likely to publicly back Trump on Iran as he previously said that Berlin shared the Iranian people’s “relief” that “the mullah regime is coming to an end,” and declined to “lecture” the US and Israel on legality of the strikes.

But that doesn’t mean their chat will be easy at all, despite clever diplomatic tricks – which last time round saw Merz give Trump his grandfather’s German birth certificate.

Donald Trump meets German chancellor Freiderich Merz at the White House, 5 June 2025. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Merz historicially was, and is probably still a generally committed pro-US politician – but has markedly changed his positions since assuming power last year and in response to somewhat erratic decisions of the US president, Donald Trump.

He repeatedly criticised Trump’s decisions on transatlantic trade and the US president’s ambitions to control Greenland, which is part of a Nato ally, Denmark.

Trump’s tariffs are particularly tricky for Germany, and it’s already ailing economy, so Merz is likely to make representations on that point as he hopes to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries.

Merz also repeatedly sought the US administration’s support for Ukraine and against the increasingly dangerous Russia, which he sees as critical for the future of the continent – sometimes putting him at odds with Trump.

He will probably see it as his task to do whatever it takes to bring Trump closer to Europe on Ukraine and Russia.

In his speech at the Munich Security Conference last month, Merz pointedly warned Trump that “in the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone.”

Noem says there are 'no quotas' for DHS arrests during Senate hearing

In a line of questioning by Democratic senator Chris Coons, Noem is being grilled about her department’s relationship with Trump’s top adviser Stephen Miller. Coons noted Miller’s public comments to reporters about a 3000 arrests per day quota.

“When there’s pressure on you to hit high numbers,” Coons said. “It’s easier to simply round-up people here, breaking no laws and contributing to our communities.”

For her part, Noem was resolute that there are “no quotas” and insisted that DHS conducts “targeted law enforcement”.

Noem says that there are still 650 federal immigration agents in Minnesota

Kristi Noem said that she believes there are about 650 federal immigration agents still stationed in Minnesota, while answering questions from one of the state’s Democratic senators – Amy Klobuchar.

This comes after Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan announced there would be a substantial drawdown of immigration enforcement in the state last month. Throughout Operation Metro Surge there were about 3,000 agents in Minnesota.

“What I want to know is, when are you going to get down to the original footprint as promised to us?” Klobuchar asked Noem today. Prior to the crackdown in the North Star state, there were about 150 federal immigration officers present.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham asked Noem about the mass shooting in Austin over the weekend during his questions today.

A reminder, officials in Texas are continuing to investigate at a bar in the state capital by a man wearing a “Property of Allah” hoodie as an act of potential terrorism, as fears rise over the possibility of further attacks following US airstrikes on Iran. The shooting killed two people, and wounded 14 others.

Police shot and killed Ndiaga Diagne, a Senegalese national and naturalized US citizen, after he reportedly opened fire at the downtown bar. The Associated Press, citing an unidentified law enforcement official, said the gunman wore a T-shirt under his hoodie with an Iranian flag design.

During today’s hearing, Graham said he wondered “how many people are like that here, waiting to pounce”. GOP Texas lawmakers and officials have already issued statements that the shooting was in response to the coordinated US-Israel military action in Iran.

“Radical Islam has no place in Texas and our country,” said Republican senator John Cornyn, who is up for re-election this year. His opponent in Tuesday’s primary, attorney general Ken Paxton, said that it is “a legitimate concern” that the suspect “might have been part of a sleeper cell”.

Noem does not retract statements calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti 'domestic terrorists'

When asked by ranking member Dick Durbin if Noem would retract her statements calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti – the two US citizens killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis – “domestic terrorists”, Noem evaded the question.

“When we have these situations happen, we always offer our condolences to those families, and I offer mine as well,” the homeland security secretary said.

Durbin noted that the leaders of ICE and CBP – both of whom testified before the House judiciary committee last month – said they did not provide information to Noem that Pretti was a domestic terrorist.

“I was getting reports from the ground, from agents at the scene, and I would say that it was a chaotic scene,” Noem insisted.

“Is it so hard to say you were wrong?” Durbin pushed back.

Noem says DHS will continue to investigate possible 'Iranian sleeper cells' in wake of ongoing war

Kristi Noem said that her department will continue to investigate “any threats to the homeland here within our borders” after chairman Grassley asked her about possible “Iranian sleeper cells” in the US, amid the war in the region.

“We work with the FBI often, and homeland security investigation specializes in this kind of work each and every day,” Noem added, while denigrating the Biden administration’s immigration policy. “We don’t necessarily know who all came into our country. We know that we have many dangerous individuals that came in, unvetted, and we are working every single day to find them and to make sure that we’re preventing the next attack.”

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the US Capitol, 3 March 2026. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

One note, Grassley did acknowledge the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. “Mistakes have been made,” the Iowa lawmaker said. “Let’s make it clear, one death is too many.”

Ahead of Noem giving her opening statement she was interrupted by a protester in the hearing room, who identified themself as a former FEMA employee, and said that the homeland security secretary should be “ashamed” of herself. As they were escorted out of the room they issued a call to “abolish ICE”.

The top Democrat on the judiciary committee, senator Dick Durbin issued a sharp rebuke of DHS under Noem’s leadership. He said that the department is “devoid of any moral compass or respect for the rule of law” and noted that “without hesitation or remorse” federal immigration agents have “wreaked havoc in our cities”.

During his opening remarks, Senate judiciary committee chairman, Chuck Grassley, blamed Democrats for the ongoing shutdown Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but highlighted four agencies: the Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Coast Guard.

Democrats are demanding tighter guardrails for federal immigration enforcement, but a sweeping tax bill signed into law last year conferred $75bn for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which means the agency is still functional amid the wider department shuttering.