Trump Insists He, Not Netanyahu, Will Decide Fate of Iran Nuclear Deal

Donald Trump has bluntly declared that the decision on any nuclear agreement with Iran rests solely with the White House, insisting that Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be compelled to fall in line. In a telephone interview with the Financial Times, Trump stated that Netanyahu “will have no choice” and that “I am the one who makes the decisions — he is not the decision-maker.” The remarks, made late on Sunday, mark a remarkable assertion of American primacy in the process and come at a moment of heightened regional tension.

Just hours before, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel, targeting what they described as Ramat David airbase in retaliation for Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon. The attack represented the most serious breach of the ceasefire between the two foes since a fragile truce was brokered in early April. Viewed from Tehran, the strike was a message that the Islamic Republic would not be sidelined, regardless of the diplomatic track pursued by Washington.

Trump dismissed the Iranian attack as having “no impact” on the negotiations, and he told Fox News he would direct Netanyahu to refrain from any military retaliation. This stance underscores the White House’s determination to keep the diplomatic channel with Tehran open, even as officials in Jerusalem have signalled deep unease. Trump last week expressed irritation with Netanyahu over Israeli plans for expanded operations in Lebanon, which American officials fear could undercut the push for a comprehensive accord. Analysts in London note that the flare-up exposes a growing fissure in the traditional US-Israel alignment, with Trump treating the nuclear file as his own preserve.

The American president signalled that if talks collapse, Washington is prepared to escalate — either through stepped-up military action or a tightened naval blockade of Iran. That warning, conveyed in the same interview, is clearly intended to pressure Tehran as much as to reassure Israeli hawks. For now, however, the administration’s bet is on diplomacy, with Trump offering the bluntest possible assurance that any deal would bear his imprint, leaving Netanyahu with little room to manoeuvre. The coming weeks will test whether the combination of American cajoling and the threat of force can produce a breakthrough, or whether the opposing pressures from Tehran and Jerusalem will once again scupper the process.