Netanyahu Calls Trump Every Day to Push for More War. Trump Says Regional Leaders Want Status Quo; Allies, Israel to Pay for War
Despite daily phone calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump doesn’t appear ready to resume attacks on Iran and called continuing the war “unlikely” on Truth Social.
The news also comes after an unverified report from Israel’s Channel 13 that the U.S. Central Command told Israeli officials military strikes on power plants and civilian infrastructure are ahead.
The reports follow President Trump’s message on CBS’s 60 Minutes: Israel and Middle East allies will pay the full cost of the war, now pegged at almost $50 billion tax dollars.
Phone Calls
The Financial Times revealed that Netanyahu is on the phone with Trump every day. The lame duck prime minister is “urging him to launch a renewed military offensive against Iran,” apparently before opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, whom Israeli President Isaac Herzog instructed to form a new coalition government, comes to power.
“Netanyahu calls him every day [to urge him to resume the war],” but “those who don’t want a war within the White House and outside have been trying to combat that,” the newspaper reported:
The regional leaders are telling him not to escalate and prioritize negotiations.
Netanyahu’s lobbying for more war is not surprising. Netanyahu, after all, briefed Trump in the White House Situation Room and fed him the nonsense that regime change in Iran could be easily accomplished and would be assisted by a Kurdish invasion from Iraq. CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the claims “farcical,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio called them “bullsh*t.”
Regional Leaders: No More War
The calls are significant considering what Trump reported on Truth Social two days ago: Middle East leaders want peace.
“I had an excellent conversation with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, wherein much was discussed with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote:
Most importantly, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others, would prefer the status quo, in other words, a continuation of the Greatest Naval Blockade in History, and the new Operation Iron Gate — Therefore, Land and Sea. All have agreed that Iran cannot have a Nuclear Weapon — That is non-negotiable! Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go. At this point, however, that seems to be quite unlikely. Israel, and the entire Middle East, are protected from Iranian danger and threats. We are seeing positive momentum toward an end to this Conflict, and will ensure that America’s interests are at all times protected. At the conclusion of this Military Engagement, the American People, and the World, will be far safer and more secure.
Trump’s statement on the social-media site also contradicts another report: that CENTOM has informed Israeli leaders another hard blow against Iran is ahead.
“U.S. Central Command has delivered a message to senior Israeli military leaders to prepare for a possible third wave of U.S. strikes on Iran, Israel’s Channel 13 reported,” Trump’s Truth Social account reported:
Adm. Brad Cooper indicated the campaign could expand beyond military sites to hit bridges, power stations and civilian infrastructure. Cooper reportedly backed resuming combat, arguing that strikes on infrastructure and the economy could force Tehran to back down. The message came as President Trump publicly announced the U.S. could destroy “38 bridges in Iran in one hour,” identifying bridges and power stations as potential targets for a new operation. Channel 13 said Cooper told Israeli commanders that victory over Iran can be reinforced with a wave of attacks on infrastructure sites, bridges, power stations and the economy.
As The New American reported two weeks ago, multiple media outlets reported that Trump was planning to resume the war on November 4. The Wall Street Journal disclosed that Trump officials warned the Gulf States that U.S. forces would strike Iran again after the midterms.
The warning to U.S. allies in the Gulf — Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — was clear. As Trump put it at a campaign rally, the United States might “do another little Epic Fury.”
The newspaper disclosed that Trump met with Admiral Bradley Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command. That meeting signaled a forthcoming attack, the newspaper noted.
U.S. forces hit Iran’s Qeshm Island on November 2, the day for the midterm elections. But the strike was not “another Little Epic Fury.”
The “strikes were limited,” The New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials. The officials said the attacks would not escalate.
Allies, Israel Will Reimburse U.S.
Attacks or no, Trump told Ross Douthat during his 60 Minutes interview that Israel would not exist without him, and that Israel and regional allies will pay for the war, the cost of which is $49.3 billion and climbing.
“Those countries that we’ve protected are going to pay us back any and all costs that we’ve had for the war,” Trump said:
We’re going to get all that money back. And I’ve told them and they’re going to do it, 100%. Because without us, they wouldn’t exist. Without us, Israel wouldn’t exist. Let me tell you, Israel would not exist except for Donald Trump because we went in with those beautiful B2 bombers more than a year ago and we hit the three sites at the time.… They were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon.
Whether those countries will pay up is unclear, as is whether Trump made the claim without promises from the Middle Eastern nations.
On November 9, 2025, Trump said opponents of tariffs are “fools,” and that “a [tariff] dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
That payment has not materialized.
