Trump backed Israel's Iran strike privately while publicly urging diplomacy, raising new questions on U.S. strategy and campaign promises.
Trump quietly coordinated with Israel on Iran while publicly pushing
diplomacy, raising policy and political questions.
Washington, D.C., United States — President Donald Trump knew about
Israel’s plan to strike Iran weeks in advance, sources confirmed Friday, even
as he publicly called for renewed nuclear negotiations and warned against
military escalation. The covert coordination enabled the U.S. to evacuate
diplomats and prepare for retaliation, revealing a carefully calibrated
geopolitical strategy behind Trump's public stance.
President Donald Trump maintained a public commitment to diplomacy with
Iran, but behind the scenes, he was closely briefed on Israel’s plans to strike
Tehran, according to officials familiar with the operation.
Trump’s coordinated phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu—on both Monday and Thursday—preceded the launch of precision Israeli
strikes targeting Iranian nuclear and military assets. Despite the looming
offensive, Trump continued to stress peace, repeatedly calling for a
“diplomatic resolution” in official statements.
Insiders now describe that messaging as a calculated “smokescreen,”
allowing the U.S. to reposition assets, secure diplomatic personnel, and avoid
triggering pre-emptive Iranian action.
“It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what’s going on,” Trump told The
Wall Street Journal, confirming the level of coordination while downplaying any
surprise element in the attack timeline.
A senior former Trump official told The Telegraph that the president was
content to play the “good cop” in contrast to Netanyahu’s aggressive posture,
knowing the Israeli operation aligned with American strategic interests.
“It was never about stopping the strikes. It was about ensuring we
weren’t exposed,” the source said. “Israel took the shot. We stepped aside—but
we made sure our people were out of harm’s way first.”
Preparations included pulling non-essential staff from the Baghdad
embassy and initiating quiet withdrawals from other regional posts, signaling
to military analysts that both countries anticipated immediate Iranian
retaliation.
Simone Ledeen, a former Pentagon official under Trump, described the
sequence of events as “evidence of deep coordination” between Washington and
Jerusalem. “This wasn’t a surprise to the White House,” she said.
The military timeline appears to mirror a two-month window set by Trump
in March, when a letter to Tehran outlined a 60-day period to reach a new
nuclear agreement. The Israeli strikes came on the 61st day, just as
negotiations had stalled.
Trump confirmed the timeline in a press gaggle, stating: “I told them
they had 60 days. They didn’t deliver. Israel acted.”
While the strikes shocked the international community, the former
president insisted the military action could actually increase pressure on Iran
to negotiate. “Maybe now they will take it seriously,” he told Axios.
Israeli officials reportedly spread word in diplomatic circles that
Trump had quietly approved the operation. White House press officials deny
this, claiming the U.S. had no involvement in the strikes and remains committed
to regional stability.
Yet the messaging from the administration has shown signs of internal
friction. Marco Rubio, Trump’s hawkish Secretary of State, was the one to
deliver the official U.S. statement Thursday night: “We are not involved in
strikes against Iran. Our top priority remains the safety of American
personnel.”
The remark was seen by analysts as a political compromise aimed at
balancing MAGA isolationists with neoconservative interventionists within
Trump’s inner circle.
On social media, Trump’s attempt to thread the needle drew fire from
both sides. “How does this align with America First?” conservative influencer
Charlie Kirk posted to his followers. “We didn’t vote for secret wars.”
Fox News veteran Tucker Carlson echoed those concerns in his newsletter,
urging Trump to “drop Israel” and resist pressure from Washington’s foreign
policy establishment.
The strike’s timing—hours before Trump appeared at a congressional
barbecue on the South Lawn—underscored the president’s dual-track approach:
maintain public calm, manage diplomatic fallout, and preserve campaign promises
amid geopolitical turbulence.
“We told them to make a deal. They couldn’t,” Trump wrote on Truth
Social early Friday. “So now we move forward.”
Observers say the incident marks one of the clearest examples of Trump’s
“dual optics” foreign policy approach—using conflicting narratives to manage
both domestic and international audiences.
Whether the gambit pays off remains to be seen, especially as Iran
weighs its next move and Trump faces mounting pressure from both allies and
critics ahead of the November election.
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