Newspaper Reader.
Jun 09, 2026
Good morning and welcome to White House Watch. Let’s dive into:
- The tensions between Trump and Netanyahu
- Trump booed at Madison Square Garden
- The Maine primary looms
The relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu has been as tight as it has been volatile — and reached a new inflection point early this month, as James Shotter, our Jerusalem correspondent, and I examine in this article.
Who calls the shots? Trump and Netanyahu clash over diverging goals in Middle East war
Editor: Under the rubric of Poltitcal Melodrama:
After a new cycle of escalation in the Middle East, the US president and the Israeli prime minister seem to be on diverging paths, with Trump looking for an elusive exit strategy and peace deal with Tehran and Netanyahu seemingly standing in the way.
“I call the shots. I call all the shots. [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots,” Trump said in an interview with the FT on Sunday. At the time, Iran was striking Israel for the first time since the early April ceasefire, in response to its attacks on Hizbollah in Lebanon.
Israel then retaliated by striking Iran over the ensuing hours, but the US did not participate in those attacks, only launching defensive interceptors to protect its own troops in Israel from Iranian fire in the exchange, a US defence official told the FT.
US officials insist the relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu is as strong as ever. But tensions have been apparent in recent days © AP
Editor: James Politi’s shift of focus:
By Monday, after Trump called on Israel and Iran to “immediately stop shooting”, the escalation had stopped. Trump spoke to Netanyahu again. US officials insisted their relationship remained as strong as ever. But the tensions between Washington and Jerusalem were apparent, exposing the pressure Netanyahu is facing domestically not to be seen to be caving to Trump.
Editor: Under the rubric of ‘This dynamic bodes poorly…’
This dynamic bodes poorly not only for the negotiations between the US and Iran over a peace deal, but also signals that any agreement could still be exceedingly fragile and subject to Netanyahu potentially jeopardising it again with his actions against Iran and its proxies, especially Hizbollah.
“Trump is basically trying to show the American public that he’s trying to keep the war from re-escalating and he’s trying to keep America from getting involved again,” said Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based pollster and political analyst. “And Netanyahu looks good to his domestic audience because he’s defying Trump.”
Editor: What James Politi’s misses by a mile, is the stark fact that neither Trump nor Netanyahu are in charge! Iran is in the drivers seat! James Politi and The Finacial Times political chatter failes to mention this inelutable fact. No form of the self-congratulation can mask James Politi’s stumblins in the dark! This is ‘The Financial Times’ much more to follow…
Newspaper Reader.
StephenKMackSD's Blog 