Trump’s White House f-bomb: ‘This is a president who is not in control’

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• The US President dropped the f-bomb while speaking to reporters outside The White House today, showing his anger after a ceasefire he claimed responsibility for between Israel and Iran broke down within hours.
• The News Agents say his sweary response shows a leader who is not in control.
• Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall say he previously learned that Vladimir Putin would not listen to him when trying to secure peace in Ukraine, but has he learned the same lesson now with Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel?

What’s the story?

Donald Trump may have become the first ever US president to use the f-bomb in front of TV cameras.

Outside The White House, on 24 June 2025, he told reporters that neither Israel or Iran knew what “the f***” they were doing in the escalating conflict between the two countries.

Just hours earlier, he had claimed responsibility for securing a ceasefire between the two countries, claiming the conflict would be known as “the 12 day war”, but the ceasefire didn’t even last 12 hours.

“Donald Trump can put on a show. We know that. But it didn't seem this time like Donald Trump was acting. He seemed genuinely livid,” says Lewis Goodall, speaking from the NATO Summit in The Hague.

The meeting of global leaders was meant to be focused on the situation in Ukraine, but all eyes (and ears) were instead on Trump and his early-morning outburst.

“He is clearly furious with not just Iran, but with Israel. In fact, he actually singled out Israel as part of the wider remarks, saying he's particularly irritated with Israel,” Lewis adds.

“Minutes later, he was posting instructions on social media telling Israel what to do – or not to do – next. He claimed that the ceasefire was still in place, and that Israel was not going to attack Iran.

“It gives a sense of a president who is not in control. He was never going to be in control once he authorised those attacks. He was rolling the dice.”

He says Trump attached his reputation, brand and prestige to the US attacks on Iran – and it hasn’t worked out for him.

But have Trump’s actions not only backfired on him, but on Israel, Iran and anyone else engaged in seeking peace in the Middle East?

Has Trump made Israel Iran peace even less likely?

Emily Maitlis thinks Trump’s all-guns-blazing approach to politics, and international warfare, may have set the peace process back further than many realise.

“Israel and Iran were not going to be sorted out in 12 hours,” she says.

“What it does is it drains the energy from anyone who's actually trying to put a concrete plan in place for anything else, because it does become like this game show, where you're just waiting on the next tweet, the next development, the next little kind of clip from the President.

“It's a bit like folding up the Monopoly board when you've still got hotels and houses, irons and top hats on it. You just smack it in half and let everyone else clear up the mess.”

Supporting Israel, Trump sided with its controversial leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes during his war with Gaza.

In his early days attempting to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, Trump sided with Vladimir Putin, but soon learned he would achieve nothing working with the Russian leader.

Did Trump make the same mistake twice backing Putin, then Netanyahu?

“Netanyahu didn't want an Iranian deal, he sees this as a generational moment, he didn't want to stop now,” says Lewis.

“Israel and Netanyahu have been thrilled because they think that they are achieving the maximum military objectives that Netanyahu has long wanted, so why would you start then, at that moment.”

Israel accused Iran of breaking the ceasefire deal first, which Iran strongly denies.

But as well as again highlighting the hostility between the two countries, the situation may also have revealed how similar Trump is to Netanyahu – and Netanyahu to Putin.

“This is when you suddenly realise how similar I think they are – they're both quite volatile,” says Emily.

“You could say that Netanyahu is probably more polished and Trump is probably more raw, but they're quite similar in terms of the way that they deal with the media.”

She adds that Trump’s main concern now is to work out which player on the global stage will listen to him – and who will not.

“Putin does not listen to Trump – which is why Trump came into the Ukraine talks thinking he can tell Putin what to do, and tells Zelenskyy what to do. Only one of them was willing to listen – and it wasn't Putin.

“Now he's basically having the same conversation with Netanyahu.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.