Ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to hold as Trump vents frustration with both sides

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold Tuesday after initially faltering, and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with both sides, saying they had fought “for so long and so hard” that they do not know what they are doing.

But even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel had brought Iran’s nuclear program “to ruin,” a new U.S. intelligence report found that the program has been set back only a few months after U.S. strikes over the weekend, according to two people familiar with the assessment.

The early report issued Monday by the Defense Intelligence Agency was described to The Associated Press by two people familiar with it. They were not authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The report also contradicts statements from Trump, who has said the Iranian nuclear program was “completely and fully obliterated." The White House called the assessment “flat-out wrong.”

After the truce was supposed to take effect, Israel accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace, and the Israeli finance minister vowed that “Tehran will tremble.”

The Iranian military denied firing on Israel, state media reported, but explosions boomed and sirens sounded across northern Israel in the morning, and an Israeli military official said two Iranian missiles were intercepted.

Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a NATO summit that, in his view, both sides had violated the nascent agreement. He had particularly strong words for Israel, a close ally, while suggesting Iran may have fired on the country by mistake.

But later he said the deal was saved.

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!” Trump said in his Truth Social post.

Indeed, Netanyahu’s office said he held off on tougher strikes against Iran after speaking to Trump.

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday the Islamic Republic emerged “proud and steadfast” from the aggression by Israel and the United States.

“This proves one simple truth more clearly than ever: diplomacy and dialogue are the only path to resolving the unnecessary crisis over Iran’s peaceful program,” he said.

The conflict, now in its 12th day, began with Israel targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, saying it could not allow Tehran to develop atomic weapons and that it feared the Islamic Republic was close. Iran has long maintained that its program is peaceful.

If the truce holds, it will provide a global sense of relief after the U.S. intervened by dropping bunker-buster bombs on nuclear sites — a move that risked further destabilizing the volatile region.

Trump phoned Netanyahu after the American bombing on Sunday and told him not to expect additional U.S. military attacks and that he should seek a diplomatic solution with Iran, a senior White House official said.

Trump’s position was that the U.S. had removed any imminent threat posed by Iran, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about sensitive diplomatic talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Israel followed up the U.S. air attacks by expanding the kinds of targets it was hitting.

After Tehran launched a limited retaliatory strike Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, Trump announced the ceasefire.

A protracted conflict could have a broad economic impact if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping channel.

China, which is Iran’s largest trading partner and only remaining oil customer, condemned the U.S. attacks and said it was concerned about a “spiral of escalations” without a ceasefire. Trump suggested the ceasefire would allow Iranian oil to continue to flow, saying on social media that China could keep purchasing crude from Iran.

The deal got off to a rocky start.

An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations said Iran launched two missiles at Israel hours into the tenuous ceasefire. Both were intercepted, the official said.

Iranian state television reported that the military denied firing missiles after the start of the ceasefire — while condemning Israel for predawn strikes of its own.

One of those attacks killed a high-profile nuclear scientist, Mohammad Reza Sedighi Saber, at his father-in-law’s residence in northern Iran, Iranian state TV reported.

Trump's frustration with the early morning strikes was palpable as he spoke to reporters before departing for the Hague. He said both sides had violated the agreement and used an expletive to hammer home his point.

“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f—- they’re doing,” he said.

Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire with Iran, in coordination with Trump, after the country achieved all of its war goals, including removing the threat of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In a televised statement, Netanyahu said late Tuesday that Israel took out top generals and nuclear scientists and destroyed nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan and the Arak heavy water reactor. He thanked Trump for his help.

It’s unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, played in the talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.

Trump said Tuesday that he wasn’t seeking regime change in Iran, two days after floating the idea himself in a social media post.

“I don't want it," Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “Regime change takes chaos and, ideally, we don't want to see much chaos.”

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that the U.S. and Iran are already in early discussions about resuming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. He called the direct talks and discussions through intermediaries “promising.”

Before the ceasefire was announced, Israel’s military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel. Police said they damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba. First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. At least 20 people were injured.

Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area. Police said some people were injured while inside their apartments’ reinforced safe rooms, which are meant to withstand rockets but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.

The attack followed a limited Iranian missile assault Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar in retaliation for earlier American bombing of its nuclear sites. The U.S. was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.

Elsewhere, U.S. forces shot down drones attacking the Ain al-Assad base in the desert in western Iraq and a base next to the Baghdad airport, while another one crashed, according to a senior U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

No casualties were reported, and no group claimed responsibility for the attacks in Iraq. Some Iran-backed Iraqi militias had previously threatened to target U.S. bases if the U.S. attacked Iran.

In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 974 people and wounded 3,458 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.

The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest, said of those killed, it identified 387 civilians and 268 security force personnel.

The U.S. has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over the weekend, a State Department official said.

There are roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, believed to be in Israel.

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Gabe Levin in Dubai; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Sam Mednick in Beersheba, Israel; Amir Vahdat in Iran; Michelle Price, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville, Aamer Madhani, Josh Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington; and Seung Min Kim in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands, contributed to this report.

Israeli soldiers work amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Israeli soldiers from the search and rescue unit work amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Israeli soldiers work amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

People leave an underground parking garage where they took shelter after an air raid alarm of Iranian missile attacks went off, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People leave an underground parking garage where they took shelter after an air raid alarm of Iranian missile attacks went off, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A general view shows Tehran skyline, Iran Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People leave an underground parking garage where they took shelter after an air raid alarm of Iranian missile attacks went off, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People rest and as they take shelter in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian strikes in Haifa, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israeli soldiers and rescue team work amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers and rescue team work amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A motorbike drives in a quiet square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this photo released on Monday, June 23, 2025, by Iranian army press service, Iran's army commander-in-chief Gen. Amir Hatami, center, accompanied by high ranked army commanders, speaks in a video call with top commanders of the army, in Zolfaghar central headquarters, Iran, as portraits of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hang on the wall. (Iranian Army Press Service via AP)

People spend the night in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A smoke trail from the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system streaks across the sky as it intercepts missiles launched during an Iranian attack, as seen from Haifa, Israel, early Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.

The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”

Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”

The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.

Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.

Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.

The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.

“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”

For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.

In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.

At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.

The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)