Trump says Iran has 'second chance' to come to nuclear deal as Israel and Iran exchange blows

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday urged Iran to quickly reach an agreement on curbing its nuclear program as Israel vowed to continue its bombardment of the country.

Trump framed the volatile moment in the Middle East as a possible "second chance” for Iran's leadership to avoid further destruction "before there is nothing left and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”

The Republican president pressed on Iran as he met his national security team in the Situation Room to discuss the tricky path forward following Israel's devastating strikes, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to keep up for “as many days as it takes” to decapitate Iran's nuclear program.

The White House said it had no involvement in the strikes, but Trump highlighted that Israel used its deep arsenal of weaponry provided by the U.S. to target Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program, as well as top nuclear scientists and officials.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he had warned Iran's leaders that “it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it."

Just hours before Israel launched its strikes on Iran early Friday, Trump was still holding onto tattered threads of hope that the long-simmering dispute could be resolved without military action. Now, he'll be tested anew on his ability to make good on a campaign promise to disentangle the U.S. from foreign conflicts.

In the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, the U.S. is shifting its military resources, including ships, in the Middle East as it looks to guard against possible retaliatory attacks by Tehran, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner to begin sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward, so it can be available if requested by the White House.

As Israel stepped up planning for strikes in recent weeks, Iran had signaled the United States would be held responsible in the event of an Israeli attack. The warning was issued by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi even as he engaged in talks with Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Friday's strikes came as Trump planned to dispatch Witkoff to Oman on Sunday for the next round of talks with the Iranian foreign minister.

Witkoff still plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, but it’s unclear if the Iranians will participate, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic discussions.

The president made a series of phone calls Friday to U.S. television news anchors to renew his calls on Iran to curb its nuclear program.

CNN's Dana Bash said Trump told her the Iranians “should now come to the table" and get a deal done. And Trump told NBC News that Iranian officials are “calling me to speak" but didn't provide further detail.

Trump also spoke Friday with British Prime Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron about the evolving situation, as well as Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, oil prices leapt and stocks fell on worries that the escalating violence could impact the flow of crude around the world, along with the global economy.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., offered rare words of Democratic praise for the Trump administration after the attack “for prioritizing diplomacy” and “refraining from participating" in the military strikes. But he also expressed deep concern about what the Israeli strikes could mean for U.S. personnel in the region.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who's on Democrats’ shortlist for top 2028 White House contenders, said if Israel can set back Iran's nuclear program with the strikes “it’s probably a good day for the world.”

“But make no mistake: We do not want an all-out war in the Middle East," Shapiro said. "That’s not only bad for the Middle East, it’s destabilizing for the globe, and it’s something that I hope will not occur.”

Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure Friday, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists — a barrage it said was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon.

Iran retaliated by unleashing scores of ballistic missiles on Israel, where explosions flared in the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The U.S. military assisted Israel intercept the missiles fired by Iran in the retaliatory attack.

Trump, in the hours before the Israeli attack on Iran, still appeared hopeful in public comments that there would be more time for diplomacy.

But it was clear to the administration that Israel was edging toward taking military action against Iran. The State Department and U.S. military on Wednesday directed a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their loved ones from some U.S. diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.

Before Israel launched the strikes, some of Trump's strongest supporters were raising concerns about what another expansive conflict in the Mideast could mean for the Republican president, who ran on a promise to quickly end the brutal wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Trump has struggled to find an endgame to either of those conflicts and to make good on two of his biggest foreign policy campaign promises.

And after criticizing President Joe Biden during last year’s campaign for preventing Israel from carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Trump found himself making the case to the Israelis to give diplomacy a chance.

The push by the Trump administration to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear program came after the U.S. and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

But Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Obama administration-brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”

The way forward is even more clouded now.

“No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and an ally of the Trump White House, posted on X on Thursday. “I’m very concerned based on (everything) I’ve seen in the grassroots the last few months that this will cause a massive schism in MAGA and potentially disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful Presidency.”

AP writers Tara Copp, Seung Min Kim, Matthew Lee, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, Noah Trister in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed reporting.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a welcome message during a visit by Argentina's President Javier Milei to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

This photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, shows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised speech, under a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, Friday, June 13, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

President Donald Trump speaks during the congressional picnic on the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk after greeting guests during the congressional picnic on the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Stocks fell on Wall Street as the Trump administration stepped up pressure on trading partners to make deals before punishing tariffs imposed by the U.S. take effect. The S&P 500 lost 0.8% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9%. Tesla tumbled as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump reignited over the weekend. Musk, once a top donor and ally of Trump, said he would form a third political party in protest over the Republican spending bill that passed last week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

U.S. stocks are losing ground in afternoon trading Monday as the Trump administration steps up pressure on trading partners to make deals before punishing tariffs imposed by the U.S. take effect.

The S&P 500 was down 1.2% in the first day of trading in the U.S. after a holiday-shortened week. The benchmark index remains near its all-time high set last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 641 points, or 1.4%, as of 2:32 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.

Decliners outnumbered gainers by more than 5-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tesla tumbled 7.4% for the biggest drop among S&P 500 stocks as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump reignited over the weekend. Musk, once a top donor and ally of Trump, said he would form a third political party in protest over the Republican spending bill that passed last week.

The selling accelerated after the Trump administration released letters informing Japan and South Korea that their goods will be taxed at 25% starting on Aug. 1, citing persistent trade imbalances with the two crucial U.S. allies in Asia.

“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,” Trump wrote in the letters to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.

Trump told reporters over the weekend that his administration would send letters to several foreign governments as early as Monday spelling out their tariff rates if they don’t reach a deal before Wednesday — the culmination of a 90-day negotiating period set by the White House during which goods from most countries have been taxed at a baseline 10%.

He also said on Sunday that he would impose an additional 10% in tariffs against the BRICS bloc of developing nations, which had condemned tariffs increases at its summit in Brazil. In addition to Brazil, the BRICS countries also include Russia, India, China and South Africa.

With the 90-day pause in U.S. tariffs against a long list of nations set to expire, the threat of more severe tariffs hangs over the global economy once again.

“Just bringing back that meaty topic back into focus, after a strong week last week, has given a little bit of a pause in the market,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Asset Management.

The near-term outlook will likely hinge on several key factors like the extent to which trading partners are included in Trump letters, the rate of tariffs, and the effective date of such tariffs, according to analysts at Nomura.

Last week, the Trump administration announced that it reached a deal with Vietnam that would allow U.S. goods to enter the country duty-free, while Vietnamese exports to the U.S. would face a 20% levy. That was a decline from the 46% tax on Vietnamese imports he proposed in April.

“The type of deal struck with Vietnam may be a blueprint for similar countries in the region with economies heavily reliant on large trade deficits with the U.S.,” said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede.

All of the sectors in the S&P 500 index were in the red, with technology, financial and consumer-related stocks among the biggest weights on the market.

Apple fell 2.2%, JPMorgan Chase dropped 2% and Home Depot slid 1.7%.

Molina Healthcare fell 3.5% after the insurer lowered its profit guidance due to rapidly accelerating costs. UnitedHealth Group also recently reported a spike in costs that forced it to cut its forecast, sending its stock tumbling in April.

In deal news, software company CoreWeave agreed to acquire cryptocurrency mining company Core Scientific in an all-stock transaction valued at about $9 billion. Shares in Core Scientific sank 18.1%, while CoreWeave fell 4.8%.

Bond yields mostly rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.39% from 4.34% late Thursday.

The downbeat start to the week follows a strong run for stocks, which pushed further into record heights last week after a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

Stock indexes in Europe were mostly higher. Asian markets closed mostly lower.

Oil prices fluctuated after OPEC+ agreed on Saturday to raise production in August by 548,000 barrels per day.

U.S. benchmark crude was up 0.6%, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 1.2%.

This week will be relatively light on economic data. On Wednesday the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its policymaking committee's meeting last month.

The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, has been insisting that the central bank wants to wait and see how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy and inflation before making its next move on interest rates. While lower rates give a boost to the economy by making it easier to borrow money, they can also give inflation more fuel. That could be dangerous if the Trump’ administration's tariffs send inflation higher.

Trader Niall Pawa, left, works with a colleague on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Gregg Maloney works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)