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In a Wednesday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump asked if the Jewish State could pause its strikes on Lebanon in order to help Washington attain a final peace deal with Iran. While Trump said Netanyahu agreed to stop the strikes, it appears the President does not have control over the actions of Israel.
On Thursday and Friday Israel continued to strike Lebanon.
NBC News held a phone interview with the President on Thursday where he discussed the call with the Israeli leader:
But the tentative ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran already showed signs of strain, as Israeli forces continued carrying out attacks across southern Lebanon, where the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group is based.
In a phone call Wednesday, Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull back on the strikes to help ensure the success of the upcoming negotiations, two senior administration officials told NBC News. Trump confirmed that conversation in his interview with NBC News on Thursday, saying the Israelis were “scaling back” operations in Lebanon.
“I spoke with Bibi and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,” Trump said. Vance, speaking to reporters in Hungary on Wednesday, used similar rhetoric, saying the Israelis may “check themselves a little bit” in the assault on Lebanon.
The calls between Washington and Tel-Aviv continued on Thursday, but so did the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon. Times of Israel chronicled the conversations:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a “tense” phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, with the premier realizing at the end of the conversation that if he didn’t publicly express his readiness to launch peace talks with Lebanon, Trump would unilaterally announce a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, CNN reports.
It was at least the third phone call the pair had held this week, with Netanyahu using a Tuesday call to successfully lobby Trump against including Lebanon in the Iran ceasefire.
But Trump called Netanyahu again on Wednesday to express his alarm after Israel launched the largest wave of strikes in Lebanon since the beginning of the war, killing over 300 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Trump said afterward that he urged Netanyahu for a more “low-key” campaign against Hezbollah.
While Netanyahu said Israel would enter direct talks with Lebanon regarding a ceasefire with Hezbollah, the strikes continue, despite Trump’s request.
On March 22 Netanyahu asked foreign nations to join in on the Iran war, although he acknowledged Trump wanted a peace deal.
On March 8 Trump said that order to put an end to the Iran war, Netanyahu would have to agree to end it.
“I think it’s mutual … a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” Trump said.
One year ago, in April 2025, Trump said Israel would not drag the U.S. into war against Iran, although on February 28, 2026 that is exactly what happened.
