Who calls the shots? Trump tries to rein in Netanyahu, salvage Iran deal
Who calls the shots? Trump tries to rein in Netanyahu, salvage Iran deal
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
Play (41:42 min)
Reading time
1 min
He believed those who insisted he could wrap it all up by end of March, long before the November midterms. If not, the off-ramp would be easy to find. But did Donald Trump factor in that his main ally in the war against Iran was also guearing up for a campaign. Benjamin Netanyahu is running for re-election.
This past weekend, Israel’s prime minister ignored the US president and did what most of his constituents want, bombing both Beirut and Iran. Trump could easily cut off Israel for ignoring him, but does he even dare, what with a coalition of evangelicals and pro-Israel lobbyists so embedded with the Republican establishment that supports him?
We’ll ask about Trump’s options and the fading hope of all those investors and world leaders, hope that if they just close their eyes long enough, good business sense will prevail and the Strait of Hormuz will return to the free-flowing passage it was before February 28th. With hardliners in both Israel and Iran finding war’s the best insurance policy for their political survival, how does Washington secure a deal that guarantees closure?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.
