As Iran retaliates, largest US military base in Middle East hit by ballistic missile, Qatar says

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

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the administration for failing to give a clear rationale for war in Iran.

"If the case for war was strong, the story would be consistent and steady. Instead, it changes by the hour," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

"We heard this attack was defensive in nature. Then [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio said it was preemptive. Which one is it, Donald Trump? Regime change? Nuclear weapons? Missiles? An imminent threat to the homeland? Or a preemptive strike to stop future attacks on the region?" Schumer said. "When the rationale for war keeps shifting, the strategy is missing. And that's because there is no strategy. And when the strategy is missing, the risk grows."

Schumer warned against engaging in a prolonged contact.

"This is not a defensive war. This is not a necessary war. This is a war of choice," he said.

Schumer said Americans would prefer Trump focus on lowering costs at home.

-ABC News’ Allie Pecorin

Thousands of Americans are stranded in the Middle East because of the severe restrictions on commercial air travel.

Asked by ABC News why there wasn't a plan to evacuate Americans, President Donald Trump said, "Well, because it happened to all very quickly.”

“We thought, and I thought maybe more so than most, I could ask [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio], but I thought we were going to have a situation where we were going to be attacked,” he said. “They were getting ready to attack Israel. They were getting ready to attack others. You're seeing that right now. And a lot of those missiles that are hitting in those are stationary. Those were aimed there for a long period of time at these other countries."

-ABC News’ Karen Travers

President Donald Trump slammed Spain and the United Kingdom on Tuesday over their cooperation with the Iran war during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"We're going to cut off all trade with Spain," Trump said. "We don't want anything to do with Spain ... By the way, I'm not happy with the U.K. either."

He called the countries uncooperative.

He said his administration may enact embargoes on Spain. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Trump during the meeting that the Supreme Court "reaffirmed your ability to implement an embargo."

"Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott (Bessent) to cut all dealings with Spain ... Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people," Trump said.