Israel disregards Trump with major attack on Iran nuclear sites

President Donald Trump had repeatedly urged Israel not to strike Iran’s nuclear sites.

It didn’t work.

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to have defied Trump with his decision to go ahead with an attack on Iran’s nuclear program that US and allied officials had feared. Early signs suggest he went even further, targeting Iran’s ballistic-missile sites, nuclear scientists and military leaders.

That strikes came just hours after Trump had suggested to reporters that an attack wasn’t imminent and the US still believed in the prospects for a diplomatic solution that Netanyahu has long thought impossible.

“I’d much prefer an agreement, as long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it,” he said. “Might help it, actually, but it also could blow it.”

Netanyahu’s decision will inflame tensions in the region and means Iranian retaliation is almost inevitable. It deepens foreign-policy crises that Trump’s had to wrestle with since returning to the White House and raises big questions about Trump’s ability to influence an ally like Netanyahu, not to mention the leaders of adversarial nations such as Russia or China.

Soon after the attack occurred, Secretary of State Marco Rubio put out a statement saying the US hadn’t been involved in Israel’s operation, while warning Iran not to retaliate against American interests or personnel.

“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” Rubio said.

Trump was not surprised by the attack and was aware of the plans before they were carried out, Fox News reported citing a phone interview with Trump, adding that the president and Netanyahu have spoken several times in recent days.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Trump said, according to Fox. “There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back.”

Trump ran on a promise to end what he said were failed military adventures in the Middle East, and his top advisers including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary State Marco Rubio, once more of a traditional Iran hawk, have said the era of US wars in the region is over.

Trump in recent weeks had resumed talks with Tehran on curtailing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear enrichment program, which both the US and Israel said must end but Iran had insisted was its right.

Yet Netanyahu’s attack also raises the possibility that, however much the US distances from Israel’s strikes, Trump may find himself sucked into an escalating conflict in the Middle East. Iran vowed it would deliver a “harsh blow” to both Israel and the US in response to the strikes.

US military personnel “will undoubtedly answer the call if Iran miscalculates and responds by attacking American interests,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch said in a statement urging Iran to come to a nuclear deal with the US quickly.

“Netanyahu’s war has overtaken President Trump’s declaration” that the US is committed to a diplomatic resolution, Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, said in a note. “Netanyahu has chosen to present Trump with a fait accompli and dare him to oppose it.”

Trump has little room for further instability globally. The administration’s tariff war against foes and allies alike has set off a wave of uncertainty that risks tipping the US and the global economy toward recession.

Oil prices surged in Asia trading after the strike, fueling risk of the kind of inflation spike Trump has accused his predecessor, Joe Biden, of helping fuel.

Still, the US has been a staunch supporter of Israel since its creation in 1948 and has provided crucial military support, from the 1973 Yom Kippur War through its campaign to defend against Iran’s missile and drone attacks last year.

Even amid widespread criticism of Netanyahu’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas, the US hasn’t stopped providing the country with military and financial support.

Matt Kroenig, senior director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said Israel has the capability to do the attack alone. Even so, he said, it would be a surprise if the US hadn’t given at least tacit support.

“I doubt Israel would have done this without a wink and a nod from the Trump administration,” he said.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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