What was it that ultimately led President Donald Trump to begin a military operation against Iran? That’s been hotly debated in recent days, ever since the military campaign was launched on Saturday.
Now, Axios has some insight into a specific phone call between the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which took place on Monday before the start of the campaign.
The Israeli leader, per Axios, called Trump with a “stunning tip”: “Iran’s supreme leader and his top advisers were all set to meet at one location in Tehran on Saturday morning.” Therefore, the two sides had a clear shot to take out that leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his top lieutenants. That call was, according to the report, “a pivotal moment that set the Iran war in motion.”
Trump checked in with the CIA, who “confirmed the information about Khamenei gathered by Israeli military intelligence.”
🚨 The Trump-Netanyahu Call That Changed the Middle East
Source: AxiosA declassified phone call on February 23, 2025, between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump set in motion the airstrike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali… pic.twitter.com/b7X2mcNxDx
— Just Me (@JustSparks8) March 4, 2026
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“Trump was already leaning toward striking Iran before learning the new intelligence about Khamenei. What he hadn’t decided was when — until Netanyahu called,” the report said. Also, per the Axios report, the phone call was “part of months of intensive coordination between the two leaders, who met twice and spoke by phone 15 times in the two months leading to the war.” The report cited sources from both governments.
Trump then gave the order for the operation to go forward last Friday, with the attack starting just hours later.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, earlier this week, seemed to imply that Israel had dragged the U.S. into the war, although he walked back that statement the following day.
The report also said that “the original plan called for a strike in late March or early April, giving the administration time to build public support, [but] Netanyahu pushed to move faster.”
Both the U.S. and Israel denied, to Axios, that Netanyahu had pushed Trump into a decision about the operation.
“We were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that. If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” Axios quoted Trump as saying.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
