One reporter asked about the operation’s objectives. Another asked who Trump wanted to lead Iran since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attack.

Instead of answering, Trump stopped to admire new statues of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in the Rose Garden.

“Unbelievable statues,” he said as reporters shouted their questions. “You’ll see. Come and look at them.”

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported that Trump also did not speak to reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington from Mar-a-Lago, as he typically does. He did, however, speak to some reporters by phone over the weekend as the operation unfolded.

Trump’s refusal to address the assembled media after igniting a major conflict overseas, but instead praising his new statues, led to harsh criticism on X: