President Donald Trump joked on Wednesday that he’s so popular in Israel that he’s considering running for prime minister once he’s done serving as president of the United States.
But later in the day, reports surfaced that the president had a tense call with Israel’s current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to The Daily Beast, which cited Channel 12 in Israel, Trump and Netanyahu had a “lengthy and dramatic” secret call on Tuesday, related to next steps in the Iran military campaign. The two leaders, as reported by the Beast, “butted heads in an overnight phone call over their differing views on strategy for the war in Iran they launched in February.”
Per the report, Trump is leaning towards bringing the campaign to a close, while Netanyahu would like more strikes on Iran.
‘Netanyahu will do whatever I want him to do’
President Trump has claimed the Israeli PM will do whatever he wants him to do, adding that the pair are on the same page about Iranhttps://t.co/gkRirr0wnY
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“He’s fine. He’ll do whatever I want him to do,” Trump said Wednesday of the discussions between the leaders.
“The call came shortly after The New York Times reported that Israel, allegedly with Trump’s backing, entered the conflict with a plan to elevate former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial strikes,” the Beast reported. That report was certainly shocking, as neither Israel or the U.S. has traditionally been outwardly supportive of Ahmadinejad.
“The effort reportedly unraveled almost immediately when Ahmadinejad was injured in a strike on his Tehran residence and subsequently disappeared from public view,” the Beast added. “How and when the conflict will end is still uncertain, with negotiations between the U.S. and Israel and Iran stalling.”
Axios had more details about the leaders’ reportedly contentious call.
“A revised peace memo was drafted by Qatar and Pakistan with input from the other regional mediators to try to bridge the gaps between the U.S. and Iran, the sources said. It comes with Trump vacillating over ordering a massive strike on Iran and holding out for a deal,” Axios reported. “Netanyahu is highly skeptical about the negotiations and wants to resume the war to further degrade Iran’s military capabilities and weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure.”
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
