Trump receives a cornered Netanyahu and resists keeping the war with Iran open

Five months after jointly attacking Iran, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have once again sat in the Oval Office with an entrenched war and a much colder relationship. The US president wants to find a negotiated solution before the November legislative elections. The Israeli prime minister needs to maintain military pressure to achieve some victory in his own October elections.

The meeting lasted around 90 minutes, was held behind closed doors, and ended without a joint appearance. The White House merely described it as "positive and productive", while images released by the Israeli government showed both leaders smiling alongside JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth.

The atmosphere beforehand had been considerably less cordial. Trump had publicly accused Netanyahu of trying to keep the United States in the war through information about a possible reactivation of the Iranian nuclear program in Pickaxe Mountain. "I don't need 'Bibi' to tell me. He tells me because he wants me to stay involved," he stated hours before the meeting.

Trump also reproached the Israeli leader for disseminating that information before communicating it directly to him. "Why do you have to announce it to the world?" he asked during a television interview. Netanyahu's office later denied that the supposed nuclear bunker was part of the conversation, despite it having dominated much of the preceding hours.

A war that is already weighing on the polls

Trump and Netanyahu began the joint offensive against Iran on February 28 with the promise of destroying its nuclear program, weakening its missiles, and overthrowing the ayatollahs' regime. The campaign was supposed to last a few weeks, but it has dragged on for five months without achieving its main objectives and has ended up spreading instability throughout the Middle East.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted global energy trade and driven up fuel prices in the United States. The Pentagon is requesting approximately 95 billion additional dollars to sustain operations, and at least 18 US military personnel have died since the start of the conflict, a toll that is beginning to cause discomfort within the Trumpist base.

The midterm legislative elections will be held on November 3 and could strip Republicans of absolute control of Congress. Trump needs to contain gasoline prices and present some diplomatic progress that allows him to justify a war incompatible with his old promise to keep the United States out of major foreign conflicts.

Netanyahu is in even more of a hurry. Israel will hold elections on October 27 and polls place his far-right coalition far from the 61 deputies needed to retain the majority. The prime minister has tried to wrap himself in war patriotism since the offensive on Gaza, but the wear and tear of a permanent war is beginning to reduce his political margin.

He is also losing support in Washington. More than a hundred Democratic congressmen voted this month in favor of blocking a $3.3 billion military aid package to Israel. The proposal was rejected by the Republican majority, although never before had such an initiative received so much support within the Democratic Party.

The personal relationship with Trump is also not at its best. The US president already called Netanyahu "crazy" during a tense phone conversation over Israeli bombings in Lebanon, which came close to derailing the open negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Israel continued attacking Hezbollah targets despite the understanding with Iran requiring a halt to hostilities on all fronts.

Trump ordered the suspension of US bombings on Friday to give diplomacy another chance. Netanyahu maintains his doubts about any agreement and seeks to expand operations beyond Hormuz. The Israeli leader wants to completely destroy Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities and retains the goal of causing the regime's downfall.

Trump shows the limit of his support

The differences reach other points on the regional board. Netanyahu has tried to stop the possible US sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey because he believes it would threaten Israel's air superiority. Trump flatly rejected that pressure before receiving him in Washington.

"Nobody tells me what we should sell," responded the US president, who called Recep Tayyip Erdogan a friend and presented Turkey as a powerful ally. He also recalled Israel's dependence on Washington's economic and military support. "Do you know who wouldn't survive without us? Israel," he affirmed aboard Air Force One.

That hardening has clear limits. Trump maintains military support for Israel and continues to protect Netanyahu against the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The president has already guaranteed that his ally "will not be arrested under any circumstances" while in the United States.

The promise responded to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has asked the federal government to execute the order when Netanyahu travels to the United Nations General Assembly in September. An international order has been pending against the Israeli prime minister since November 2024 related to the use of starvation as a method of warfare and attacks against the Palestinian civilian population.

The White House has also not withdrawn military aid to Israel nor questioned the shared goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The clash is now focused on the duration of the war, the scope of the attacks, and Netanyahu's ability to hinder the talks Trump is trying to resume with Tehran.

The meeting ended without announcing new bombings, military agreements, or commitments regarding Pickaxe Mountain. Trump is currently maintaining the offensive pause and leaves open a final negotiation with Iran, accompanied by another direct threat: "If we don't reach an agreement, we'll go back to the same thing."