In last night’s television commentary, some announcers were speculating about President Trump’s attitude toward Israel’s preemptive strike. Did he know in advance? Is he on board with it? This struck me as misguided. Trump is probably the most pro-Israel president we have ever had, and the Iranians tried to assassinate him. (I suspect the talking heads are unaware of this.) So what would you expect Trump’s attitude to be?
He eliminated any doubt with this tweet:
FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP:
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal…” pic.twitter.com/lsCQHkyT2f
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 13, 2025
Also this:
US President Donald Trump says he and his aides were read in on Israel’s plans to attack Iran.
Asked whether Israel gave the US a heads-up on its attack, Trump tells The Wall Street Journal, “Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what’s going on.”
Trump says he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and will hold another call with him on Friday.
He calls Israel’s attack on Iran “a very successful attack, to put it mildly.”
“I told the other side, I said, you have 60 days to make the deal. On the 61st day, they attacked. Today is 61 actually, and it was a very successful attack,” Trump tells WSJ.
I have seen speculation that the Israel-Iran war will “divide MAGA.” Perhaps. Maybe we will find out how large the anti-Israel/pacifist wing of the right actually is. My guess is it will barely be discernible.
