Trump: US will defend Israel ‘if attacked,’ Israel coordinated with US ahead of Iran strikes

The U.S. will help defend Israel against potential Iranian retaliation but was not directly involved in the Israeli strikes against the Iranian regime, President Donald Trump told Fox News on Thursday.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” Trump told the news outlet.

The president also reiterated that he was informed of the strikes beforehand, but stressed that U.S. assets were not directly involved and expressed hope that Iran would continue the nuclear talks, the next round of which was set to start on Sunday.

At the time of publication, the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program was still unclear, but reports said that several of the sites had suffered significant damage.

For years, the Iranian regime has openly threatened to erase Israel and its allies from the map.

We will not let them. pic.twitter.com/w34qadq7Ep

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 13, 2025

While the Iranian regime did not explicitly threaten the U.S. in the immediate aftermath, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “The United States, as the main supporter of this regime [Israel], will bear responsibility for the dangerous consequences of this reckless adventure.”

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed “a harsh punishment” for Israel. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was set to visit Israel in several days, wrote on 𝕏: "Israel IS right – and has a right – to defend itself!"

Israel IS right—and has a right—to defend itself! pic.twitter.com/306CJIHeGx

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) June 13, 2025

Speaking with Fox News, Trump added that he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several times in recent days. The news outlet Axios reported that the U.S. informed several local allies that Israeli strikes were imminent but stressed it was not involved.

According to Israeli media reports, statements that implied tensions between the U.S. and Israel in recent days were purposefully not corrected by the government as part of a broad deception campaign to prepare the surprise attack.

“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

“President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” he added.

.@SenTedCruz: "Israel is doing a favor to America right now by taking out Iran's nuclear capacity. We don't know how this is going to end, but 𝗮 𝗻𝘂𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁… pic.twitter.com/8zUu8EcpEc

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 13, 2025

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News, “Israel is doing a favor to America right now by taking out Iran's nuclear capacity.”

“We don't know how this is going to end, but a nuclear Iran would be a profound threat to Israel and a profound threat to America,” Cruz added.