Trump contradicts Rubio - ABC7 San Francisco

Trump contradicts Rubio

President Donald Trump on Tuesday contradicted the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel's plans to attack Iran prompted the president to launch strikes.

Asked by ABC News if Israel forced his hand to launch strikes, Trump responded, "No. 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. They were going to attack. If we didn't do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that."

"Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. And I didn't want that to happen," he said. "So, if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand. But Israel was ready and we were ready."

On Monday, Rubio said the threat from Iran was "imminent" because the U.S. knew Iran would retaliate against the U.S. if attacked, including by Israel.

"There absolutely was an imminent threat," Rubio said. "And the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit, sit there and absorb a blow before we respond.

Trump said Tuesday that he was "surprised" that Iran was hitting other countries.

"Amazingly, they're hitting countries that were, you know, let's call them neutral, right? They lived together for a long time," he said. "They -- I think they were surprised. I was surprised."

-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Fritz Farrow