WASHINGTON, June 24 (V7N) – In a day of dramatic and often contradictory statements, US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was holding, shortly after he had publicly castigated both nations for violating the truce and used expletives to describe their actions.

The 79-year-old Republican, en route to a NATO summit in The Hague, initially took to his Truth Social app to announce, "ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt," adding, "the Ceasefire is in effect!"

This declaration followed an earlier display of frustration where Trump accused both Iran and close US ally Israel of violating the ceasefire he had first announced late Monday. Addressing reporters on the White House South Lawn before his departure, the president stated, "They have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing, do you understand that?" He asserted that Iran violated the ceasefire, "but Israel violated it too."

"So I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either. But I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning," Trump said, appearing to directly appeal to Israel to halt its military actions in real-time. "I've got to get Israel to calm down. Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I've never seen before." Earlier in the morning, he had posted on Truth Social, "ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS... IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!"

The ceasefire, if it holds, would mark a significant political achievement for Trump, particularly following his high-stakes decision over the weekend to authorize US bombers to attack three deeply buried nuclear facilities in Iran. The United States and Israel claim these sites were being used to secretly build an atomic bomb. The US operation, dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer," involved B-2 stealth bombers dropping 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) and Tomahawk missiles targeting the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities on June 22.

The US strike marked its first offensive action in the ongoing conflict that began with Israeli bombing raids on Iran on June 13. While Iranian officials have largely downplayed the damage, US defense officials assert that all three sites sustained "extremely severe damage and destruction," with Natanz reportedly destroyed and Fordow and Isfahan suffering "major damage."

Speaking to reporters, Trump insisted that the US bombing mission was a "complete success," dismissing reports questioning the extent of the damage to Iranian nuclear infrastructure as "fake news" and calling two networks "scum." He further vowed on Truth Social, "IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!"

The announced truce was initially envisioned as a phased, 24-hour process, with Iran unilaterally halting operations first, followed by Israel 12 hours later. However, Tuesday morning saw reports of continued hostilities and accusations of violations from both sides before Trump's latest declaration of the ceasefire's effectiveness.

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