Trump Asserts Unilateral Authority Over Iran Deal, Says Netanyahu ‘Has No Choice’
The president dismissed recent Iranian missile strikes as irrelevant to the ongoing negotiation process with Tehran.
President Donald Trump has signaled a strictly unilateral approach to Middle East diplomacy, asserting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be required to align with any final agreement reached between Washington and Tehran.
In an interview with the Financial Times published Sunday, Trump dismissed the suggestion that Israeli opposition could derail a potential nuclear or security pact. “He won’t have a choice,” Trump said of the Israeli leader. “I make the decisions. I make all the decisions. He doesn’t make the decisions.”
The remarks underscore a hardening of Trump’s “America First” doctrine, prioritizing U.S. executive prerogative over the traditional consultative framework with regional allies. The president’s comments follow reports of a “sharp” telephone exchange between the two leaders last week, a characterization Trump did not dispute during the interview.
Trump also downplayed the significance of recent military escalations, including Iran’s launch of four waves of ballistic missiles toward Israel. While the Financial Times described the barrage as a severe breach of the April ceasefire, Trump maintained that the kinetic activity would not alter his administration’s diplomatic trajectory.
“It will have no effect on the deal,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it all works out, but those attacks did absolutely nothing.”
Regarding the viability of a breakthrough with Tehran, Trump adopted a more measured tone than in previous weeks, stating that while a deal remains a possibility, its success would be judged solely on its merits. He outlined two primary contingencies should negotiations collapse: a direct military intervention to address remaining threats or a return to a policy of total economic isolation.
Trump described the prospect of a renewed blockade as a formidable tool of statecraft, suggesting that past economic pressure on Iran was “probably stronger than any attack” the country had previously sustained.
The diplomatic friction comes as Israel continues its military operations in Lebanon, including a Sunday strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Tehran has characterized its recent missile launches as a direct response to those strikes, maintaining that any lasting agreement with the United States is contingent upon a permanent Israeli ceasefire.
