US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that both he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be considered “war heroes” for their roles in the attacks on Iran that he said destroyed its nuclear program.
“Nobody cares, but I am too. I sent those planes,” Trump told radio host Mark Levin.
Talks with Tehran under the Trump administration began with a 60-day ultimatum. On the 61st day, June 13, Israel opened a military campaign. Nine days later, US bombers hit three Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump has repeatedly said “obliterated” the country’s program.
“We wiped out Iran’s entire nuclear capability overnight, which they’d have used against Israel in two seconds if they’d had the chance—but we took it out. Iran was four weeks from a nuclear bomb,” Trump said.
Trump also described hosting the pilots behind the Iran strike. “I sent those planes. You know, 22 years. The pilots came, I rewarded them, I brought them all into the Oval Office, the people having to do with that operation, which was so perfect.”
During the intense 12-day conflict in mid-June 2025, Israel’s airstrikes on Iran resulted in over 1,000 Iranian deaths, while Iran’s retaliatory missiles and drones killed 31 Israelis. The conflict also claimed the lives of over 30 senior Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists.
