Trump to Axios: Israel’s Attack Could Help Me Make Deal With Iran

Minutes before heading to the Situation Room for a strategy session on Iran, President Trump told Axios he believes Israel’s massive strike likely improved the chances of a U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement.

The big picture: Israel just killed much of Iran’s military leadership, targeted its top nuclear scientists for assassination, and is actively bombing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities and ballistic missile sites.

State of play: Iranian officials have said explicitly that they blame the U.S. for the attack, along with Israel. The U.S. is preparing to defend against a potential Iranian retaliation on U.S. targets.

• White House envoy Steve Witkoff still wants to meet Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday for a planned sixth round of nuclear talks, a U.S. official said. But the Iranians say they won’t participate.
• Trump wants to use the war Israel started to get the Iranians back to the negotiating table — now from a weaker position. But overall, the circumstances do not look ripe for nuclear diplomacy.

What he’s saying: Asked whether Israel’s strike jeopardized his nuclear diplomacy, Trump told Axios: “I don’t think so. Maybe the opposite. Maybe now they will negotiate seriously.”

• “I gave Iran 60 days, today is day 61,” Trump continued. “They should have made a deal.”
• He argued that after Israel’s crippling strikes, Iran now has a stronger incentive to cut a deal. “I couldn’t get them to a deal in 60 days. They were close, they should have done it. Maybe now it will happen.”
• Trump said it had been “a big day yesterday,” and noted that Israel used “great American equipment” during the attack.

The intrigue: Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for the first time since the attack.

• Trump declined to provide details about the call and didn’t want to comment on whether Netanyahu asked the U.S. to directly join in the operation.
• Netanyahu said on Friday that he and his top adviser Ron Dermer had numerous phone calls and meetings with Trump and his team ahead of the strike in an effort to get at least tacit approval.
• “I leave the U.S. position to the U.S.,” Netanyahu said, adding that the Trump administration knew about the strike plan in advance. “I told the president that surprise is the essence of success.”
• “What are they going to do now? I leave it to President Trump. He made clear that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said.

But just hours before the attack began, Trump warned Israel not to do anything to “blow” the chances of a deal.

• Since last night, Israeli officials have been spreading the word that Trump was completely on board, and only publicly opposed the attack as a “smokescreen” to increase the odds of success.
• A senior White House official denied that in a call with Axios earlier on Friday, stressing that Trump did not want Israel to attack Iran while the nuclear talks were still intact.
• “We told this to the Israelis publicly and privately ahead of the strike,” the White House official said. The official added that at the moment, the U.S. is not planning to attack Iran or to join the Israeli operation.

What to watch: In order to fully decimate the Iranian nuclear program, Israel needs to destroy an underground nuclear facility in Fordow that is built into a mountain.

• Israel lacks the huge bunker busters needed to destroy this facility. Therefore, Israeli officials say they hope the U.S. might join the operation to take out Fordow.