Strikes between Israel and Iran stretched into a fifth day on Tuesday, as President Trump made an early departure from the Group of 7 (G7) summit amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Trump was peppered with questions overnight on his flight back to Washington on everything from potential U.S. military involvement, to why he ordered Iranians to evacuate Tehran and his response to his own director of national intelligence telling a congressional committee recently that the US intel community did not believe Iran was building a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” Trump said of DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who is slated to testify in a closed door hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Trump continued to insist that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon when asked how much, if any, U.S. military might he might lend to Israel. When asked if an imminent threat was on the horizon in echoing a warning for people to flee Iran’s capital, Trump said “I want people to be safe.”

Upon leaving the G7, Trump disputed the notion that he was departing the summit to reach a ceasefire deal with Iran, something French President Emmanual Macron had earlier suggested.

“I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re looking at better than a........

© The Hill