Trump says the US knows where Iran's Khamenei is hiding and urges Iran's unconditional surrender

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding during the Israel-Iran conflict but doesn’t want him killed “for now.”

Trump urged, in a social media posting, Iran's “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” as the five-day conflict continues to escalate.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump added. “He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

Trump's increasingly muscular comments toward the Iranian government come after he urged Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his participation in an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.

The comments about Khamenei and calls for surrender came shortly after Trump in a separate posting touted complete control of the skies over Tehran.

Trump in the opening days of the conflict rejected a plan presented by Israel to kill Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Israelis had informed the Trump administration that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei. But White House officials informed the Israelis that Trump opposed such a move. Administration officials were concerned that the plan to kill Khamenei could enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.

Trump returned to the White House from his abbreviated trip to the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies early Tuesday at a moment of choosing in his presidency.

Israel, with five days of missile strikes, has done considerable damage to Iran and believes it can now deal a permanent blow to Tehran's nuclear program — particularly if it gets a little more help from the Republican president.

But deepening American involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites built deep underground or offering other direct U.S. military support, comes with enormous political risk for Trump.

Trump, as he made his way back to Washington, expressed frustration with Iranian leaders for failing to reach an agreement. He said he was now looking for “a real end” to the conflict and a “complete give-up” of Tehran's nuclear program.

“They should have done the deal. I told them, ‘Do the deal,’” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb.

Trump, who held a Situation Room meeting with advisers on Tuesday afternoon, has been gradually building the public case for a more direct American role in the conflict. His shift in tone comes as the U.S. has repositioned warships and military aircraft in the region to respond if the conflict between Israel and Iran further escalates.

Meanwhile, the State Department created a special task force to assist Americans seeking to leave Israel and other Mideast countries, although no government evacuations are currently planned. There are some 700,000 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, now in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries, including Iran.

Trump left the G7 summit a full day early so he could return to Washington to focus his attention on the Mideast crisis. Trump, while at the summit, also raised alarms when he urged Iranians with a social media posting to “immediately evacuate Tehran.”

Asked about his evacuation comment, Trump told reporters: “I just want people to be safe.”

Trump said he wasn't ruling out a diplomatic option and he could send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.

He also dismissed congressional testimony from National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, who told lawmakers in March that U.S. spy agencies did not believe Iran was building a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t care what she said," Trump said. "I think they were very close to having it.”

Gabbard on Tuesday brushed off the inconsistency, blaming the media for misconstruing her earlier testimony and asserting that “President Trump was saying the same thing that I said."

The Israelis say their offensive has eviscerated Iran's air defenses and they can now strike targets across the country at will. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli bombardment will continue until Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missiles are destroyed.

So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility.

The site is buried deep underground — and to eliminate it, Israel may need the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. But Israel does not have the munition or the bomber needed to deliver it — the penetrator is currently delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber.

Israel’s own defenses remain largely intact in the face of Iran's retaliatory strikes, but some of Tehran's missiles are getting through and having deadly impact.

Trump and Netanyahu spoke by phone on Tuesday about the evolving situation, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Trump bristled when asked about some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further U.S. involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end U.S. involvement in expensive and endless wars.

“Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,’ IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’” the president wrote on social media.

Other prominent Trump supporters and Republican lawmakers have also raised concerns about how far the president should go in backing Israel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk are among prominent Trump World allies who have noted that voters backed Trump because he promised not to entangle the nation in foreign clashes and to be wary of expanding U.S. involvement in the Mideast conflict.

And Reps. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, introduced a resolution on Tuesday that calls on Trump to “terminate” the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless “explicitly authorized” by a declaration of war from Congress.

In a Tuesday posting on X, Vance said he wanted to address “a lot of crazy stuff on social media” about Trump’s approach to Iran.

Vance made the case that Trump has been consistent that “Iran cannot have uranium enrichment” and has said “repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways — the easy way or the ‘other’ way.”

There are also Trump backers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who are making the case that this is Trump's moment to deliver a decisive blow to Iran. Graham is calling for Trump to "go all-in” in backing Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Tara Copp, Kevin Freking, David Klepper, Matthew Lee, Darlene Superville and Will Weissert contributed to this report.

Demonstrators wave Iranian and Hezbollah flags as one holds up a poster of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally marking the Muslim Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir, which commemorates the Prophet Muhammad naming his successor, Ali, who is revered as the first Shiite imam, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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)

A U.S. Marine stands outside the entrance to the West Wing of the White House as President Donald Trump meets in the Situation Room, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while flying aboard Air Force One en route from Calgary, Canada to Joint Base Andrews, Md., late Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while flying aboard Air Force One en route from Calgary, Canada to Joint Base Andrews, Md., late Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump boards his limousine at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, after returning from Calgary, Canada and the G7 Summit. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One after at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, after returning from Calgary, Canada and the G7 Summit. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt listens while flying aboard Air Force One en route from Calgary, Canada to Joint Base Andrews, Md., late Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

With downtown Calgary in the background, President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Calgary International Airport, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Calgary, Canada, on his way back to Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after a family photo session during the G7 Summit, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he attends a family photo session during the G7 Summit, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Photo via AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)