President Trump threatened more strikes against Iran after saying he believes the ceasefire is dead at the end of the NATO summit.

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MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

And I'm Scott Detrow. At a NATO summit in Turkey today, President Trump threatened more strikes on Iran, and he warned that the fragile ceasefire was over. That came after the U.S. military said it hit 80 targets in Iran on Tuesday and carried out another round of strikes today. Iran struck a defiant note, calling Trump a, quote, "criminal" and warning it could close the Strait of Hormuz. As oil prices spiked again, Trump did not say that talks to end the war were actually over. To explain how the two countries returned to open hostilities, I am joined by NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez and NPR international correspondent Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Ankara. Hey to both of you.

FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.

HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Hello.

DETROW: Franco, I'm going to start with you. Pretty stunning turnaround, considering that Trump for a while - you know, only three weeks ago was celebrating the signing of a memorandum of understanding to help end the war, repeatedly talking about, this is over. It's in the past. So what more did Trump have to say at the summit?

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, Scott, Trump not only warned that the U.S. would likely hit Iran again, but he also threatened to bring back a naval blockade. I mean, he is clearly frustrated after last night's series of strikes, and he really went off on Iranian leaders, calling them cuckoo and a bunch of liars.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people.

ORDOÑEZ: Now, the big question is whether calling off the ceasefire is actually a change in policy or simply a negotiating tactic. But Trump did say during the press conference that this would not lead to full-scale fighting again and that anything that happened would be over quickly. I mean, to me, the whole press conference was kind of this swing through so many issues, from Iran to the relationship with NATO, artificial intelligence, oil markets and even some domestic politics. I mean, he railed, for example, about the number of democratic socialists running for office, who he described as communists.

DETROW: Hadeel, at least as far as Iran is concerned, how did we get to this point?

AL-SHALCHI: Well, there's been a ceasefire for the past few months, but there's also been flare-ups. This time, the stakes were a little higher because the two sides had come to a memorandum of understanding, which actually appeared to provide a framework for ending the war. Iran has been hitting tankers using the Strait of Hormuz from the Omani-controlled channel. Oman is right across the strait from Iran. And this was seen by Iran as an attempt to get around their control of this strait, and they saw it as a weakening of their leverage in the talks. So they appear to be sending a message to the U.S. - stop using the Omani route. And the U.S. attacked back. CENTCOM said they hit radars, a naval installation, some small boats.

And the U.S. also revoked the oil licenses that would have allowed Iran to sell oil on the international market. Trump was asked at that press conference today, is this the start of the war? And he quickly said, no, this is a flare-up, and we met force with force. And the memorandum of understanding was considered a favorable deal for Iran. And in fact, Trump got a lot of criticism over it, from hawks especially, because it included the unfreezing of assets that would have given Iran billions of dollars.

DETROW: Yeah. Hadeel, sticking with you. Oil prices, as we mentioned, rose sharply after Trump said that he didn't want to talk to the Iranians anymore. Is there any incentive for the two sides to figure out some sort of way out of this dramatic escalation?

AL-SHALCHI: I mean, Trump has been getting a lot of pressure from the West and NATO to get this strait open. And the memorandum of understanding was favorable to Iran. They saw it as a benefit. And so Iran sees a benefit in de-escalation. We've actually seen a muted Iranian response after these strikes. And the revocation of the licenses deprives Iran of tens of billions of dollars in potential oil revenue and unfrozen assets they would lose. And they would also lose a $300 billion investment fund to build.

DETROW: Franco, I want to ask you about NATO. President Trump went into the summit, and during the first few days of meetings and public events, he had a lot of criticisms, a lot of complaints about NATO, hostile at times. And then he comes and gives these press conferences, and his comments were, I mean, like, warm, I think is the best way to describe them. What do you make of that change in tone?

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, I'd agree. And it was really quite a shift, considering, you know, all that criticism about the alliance. I mean, as we know, Trump's long been frustrated with NATO leaders over their lack of support for the U.S.-led war against Iran. But he also made several complaints about them, about defense spending. Trump even stoked those tensions in the beginning when he insisted early that the U.S. should again have control of Greenland instead of Denmark, a comment that he knows and even admitted, kind of, that hurts his relationship with Europe. But at the press conference, Trump really flipped the script and showered NATO leaders with praise.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

TRUMP: Just, again, if you could have seen the respect and the love in the room, and this love really for the country, for our country. I don't want to say me 'cause you'll say, oh, he's so conceited. He's such a conceited person. But they do.

ORDOÑEZ: Now interestingly, Scott, Trump even seemed to back off comments that he made earlier in the day about Spain, who he called a wasted cause and threatened to cut off all trade. He again backed off a bit during the press conference, though, after signaling that Spain would increase its defense spending.

DETROW: Hadeel, you did a lot of reporting in the run-up to the summit about concerns from other NATO allies. How did they feel that this summit went?

AL-SHALCHI: Well, really, allies came into this summit with a main goal - keep President Trump engaged and happy and show him that Europe is really stepping up. Turkish President Erdogan pulled out all the stops for Trump when he arrived - a military band, flyover, a personal greeting at the airport. And then NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte really gave it his all. He announced billions in new military contracts, made remarks about unity and even called the Iranian strikes necessary to show solidarity with Trump. And all of this may have contributed to Trump's more warmer departure.

DETROW: And, Franco, one other geopolitical issue to get to real quick - Ukraine, of course - the ongoing war with Ukraine and Russia. Fair to say, Trump and NATO members are actually on the same page here?

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. Trump actually said that the U.S. would be granting Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air defense missiles, something Kyiv has long wanted. It's a really move (ph) that could have a big impact on Ukraine's ability to defend itself. It really almost appears that Trump's newfound support has kind of fostered a new sense of camaraderie with NATO leaders.

DETROW: That is NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez and NPR international correspondent Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Ankara. Thanks so much to both of you.

ORDOÑEZ: Thank you.

AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome.

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