President Trump on Sunday said the United States will keep supporting Israel’s airstrikes on Iran amid escalating conflict between the two countries.
The president was asked as he left for the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada if the U.S. intended to continue to support Israel’s defenses and replied, “We do.”
He added that he “wouldn’t say that” when asked if he had called on Israel to pause airstrikes into Iran.
Additionally, when asked about how he plans to de-escalate the situation between Iran and Israel, Trump responded, “it’s time for a deal.”
“Sometimes they have to fight it out,” he added. “We’ll see what happens.”
The president praised his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two leaders spoke on Friday.
“We get along very well and I think we have great respect for each other,” Trump said.
The president had told ABC News earlier on Sunday that “it’s possible” the U.S. becomes involved in the current conflict between Iran and Israel.
“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” Trump told the outlet.
Israel and Iran exchanged strikes for the third consecutive day on Sunday. Iran has been facing Israeli airstrikes in which some of Iran’s missiles have hit buildings in Israel, making it past air defenses.
Israel bombarded Iran early on Friday morning, moving forward with its largest-ever military operation against its common Middle East rival and upending a push from Trump for a nuclear deal with Iran.
The U.S. attempted to quickly distance itself from the strikes, which killed some of Iran’s top military leaders.
