President Donald Trump confirmed this week that he personally asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch a strike on Iran—for now.
Speaking from the Oval Office following the swearing-in of interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Trump fielded questions from the press about ongoing negotiations with Iran. When a reporter asked whether he had asked Netanyahu to refrain from taking “actions that could disrupt the talks,” Trump didn’t dodge. “Well, I’d like to be honest. Yes, I did. Next question, please,” he said bluntly.
That quick answer prompted further questioning, and Trump elaborated. “I just said, ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate.’ We’re having very good discussions with them,” Trump said, referring to the Iranian regime. He emphasized that this wasn’t a warning to Israel but rather his own strategic recommendation. “It’s not a warning. I just said I don’t think it’s appropriate right now.”
The president’s comments shed light on high-stakes backchannel diplomacy, as his administration presses forward with a possible nuclear agreement with Iran. Trump outlined his goals: a strong deal with ironclad inspections and no assumptions of trust. “I want it very strong, where we can go in with inspectors. We can take whatever we want, we can blow up whatever we want—but nobody getting killed,” he said. “We can blow up a lab, but nobody’s going to be in the lab, as opposed to everybody being in the lab and blowing it up. Right? Two ways of doing it.”
Trump made it clear that circumstances could shift fast. “That could change at any moment—it could change with a phone call—but right now, I think they want to make a deal,” he explained. “And if we can make a deal, it’ll save a lot of lives.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has stressed the urgency of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Just last month, he and Netanyahu reaffirmed their shared stance against Iran’s nuclear ambitions during a joint appearance in Washington. “If the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” Trump said at the time. “And I hate to say it—great danger—because they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
U.S. intelligence officials have indicated that Israel may be preparing for military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, even as the Trump administration pursues a negotiated agreement. These signals have raised alarm in Washington about the risk of regional escalation if Israel were to strike first.
For now, Trump is betting on diplomacy, though not naively. “I don’t trust anybody,” he admitted. “So no trust.” His approach echoes a doctrine of peace through strength—with room for force if negotiations collapse.
The underlying message: let’s make the deal, but if Iran plays games, all bets are off. As Trump put it, “We’ll know very soon if they’re serious—or just tapping us along.”
