Iran…Trump…Conflict/War…Midday… June 17, 2026…Trump selling a Loss as a Win?

Mr. Trump said that the United States would sign the preliminary agreement in the coming days, but also asserted the right to attack Iran again if he decides it was not abiding by it. “We’re going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement,” he told reporters at the end of the summit in France.

The president appeared to allude to a 60-day period described in the agreement for talks on Iran’s nuclear program, saying, “if it doesn’t get done in 60 days, that’s all right, we’ll go back to bombing.” The senior U.S. official read the agreement’s text out loud on a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

In a wide-ranging news conference, Mr. Trump had said little about what was in the agreement, claiming that Iran had agreed that it would neither produce nor purchase a nuclear agreement.

He said that the U.S. Space Force would help monitor whether Iran was holding to the agreement, including whether it tried to recover enriched uranium from facilities bombed by American forces last year.

The president made clear that he was concerned by the war’s economic fallout, saying he wanted to avoid “catastrophe” that could be caused by a prolonged conflict. “The one president I did not want to be was the late great Herbert Hoover,” he said, referring to the president who oversaw the stock market crash of the Great Depression.

Mr. Trump also admonished Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who he said “gets a little excited sometimes,” over the Israeli campaign against the militant group Hezbollah, an Iranian ally, in Lebanon.

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t protect themselves, I’m saying when two drones are shot into the desert and drop harmlessly, you don’t have to knock down buildings in Beirut,” he said. “They could behave better, and frankly they could do a better job.”

Hours earlier, the G7 leaders issued the joint statement praising Mr. Trump’s leadership in securing the deal with Iran, as they gathered for the second full day of the summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, a resort town on the shores of Lake Geneva.

But amid uncertainty about what the deal entails, the leaders also noted that there must be “a robust and comprehensive diplomatic follow-on agreement” to the memorandum that top officials from the U.S. and Iran were expected to sign in Switzerland on Friday.

With its combination of caution and flattery directed toward the American president, the statement from G7 leaders captured the tone of this week’s summit on its final day. The gathering has been surprising so far for its cordiality, even as leaders tackle weighty and often contentious subjects.

Mr. Trump has struck a friendly tone toward European leaders whom he has a history of mocking and criticizing, even praising President Emmanuel Macron of France and speaking enthusiastically about a dinner they are set to have Wednesday night at the Palace of Versailles, the lavish estate of French royalty. They, in turn, have showered him with compliments and even gifts.