US President Donald Trump said that the decision of European countries to refuse help in the war with Iran was foolish, as the US could now retaliate by refusing to help its NATO allies in Europe.
„We have been a great member of NATO, certainly a dominant member in many ways. Over the years, we have spent trillions of dollars - not billions, but trillions - to defend Europe“, he told reporters at the White House.
„So I say to Pete Hegseth and everyone else: We are spending all this money - hundreds, hundreds of millions of dollars - mainly to protect them from Russia, but listen - then when we might need help with something small but important - they say: “No, we prefer not to help.“ It's stupid to say that, because we could tell them the same thing if we wanted to. And maybe we will“, Trump concluded.
The American president said he was willing to risk a global economic crisis and renewed military action with Iran to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
“Nuclear weapons are more important than an economic depression. It's really bad, but nuclear weapons will bring it on faster. The way we're doing this is causing the opposite of depression," he said.
“If Iran doesn't comply with the agreement, if it behaves inappropriately, then I will do what I have to do,“ he stressed.
Trump expressed confidence that he can resolve the issue surrounding Israel's reluctance to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon.
“I solve problems; I solve problems very quickly, including with Bibi.
On June 22, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its troops from Lebanese territory.
“I firmly believe that we will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect the residents of the north and all citizens of the country“, the Israeli prime minister said.
The unfrozen Iranian assets will be used to buy food from the United States, Trump announced.
“The unfrozen funds will be used to buy food. And the food will be purchased exclusively through the United States, from our farmers“, he said, commenting on the progress of negotiations between Tehran and Washington in the presence of journalists at the White House. Trump specifically mentioned the purchase of corn and soybeans.
US Vice President J.D. Vance announced earlier that Qatar would help create a mechanism to control the use of unfrozen Iranian assets.