"Donald Trump denied Israel had 'forced his hand' on Iran - and suggested he had forced theirs - as he spoke with reporters alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House on Tuesday. "I might have forced their hand. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first," he said. Merz and Trump were set to discuss the EU's position on tariffs following the US Supreme Court ruling against the president's flagship policy, but the attack in Iran was expected to dominate the agenda. The US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday morning. Tehran said it was responding with strikes on Israel and US assets in the region, with explosions reported in countries right across the Gulf region. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed dead in a strike on Saturday. It comes after a number of rounds of talks between the Americans and Iranians. "