Trump Threatens New Military Action With Israel Against Iran
The comments signal public alignment with Netanyahu but still leave unclear whether they are in agreement on next steps against Tehran and in Gaza
Updated Dec. 29, 2025
The Wall Street Journal
President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss Phase 2 of the peace plan between Israel and Hamas. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—President Trump sided firmly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, threatening new attacks against Iran, blaming Hamas for the stalled Gaza cease-fire, and calling again for Netanyahu to receive a pardon.
“I’m not concerned about anything that Israel is doing,” Trump said during a joint news conference after their talks at Mar-a-Lago. But the president hinted at disagreements, calling Netanyahu a “strong man” who “can be very difficult on occasion.”
The contrast underscored how Trump’s relationship with the U.S.’s closest Middle East ally—and with Netanyahu—is often publicly effusive but privately more combative.
Trump warned that Iran would face military strikes should it seek to replenish ballistic missiles or restart its nuclear program, echoing Netanyahu’s own warnings. “I hope they are not trying to build up again, because if they are, we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that build up,” Trump said.
But in a sharp diversion with Israel, he also said he was open to renewing diplomatic talks with Tehran.
Asked whether Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank, including settler violence, undermined his goal of stabilizing the Middle East, Trump said he and Netanyahu “don’t agree on the West Bank 100%” but they would come to a conclusion. Trump similarly glossed over tension between Israel and Turkey.
Trump said he was pressing for a pardon for the Israeli leader, who is facing a continuing corruption trial on charges that include fraud and bribery. Netanyahu has pleaded not guilty. Trump, who last month sent a pardon request to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, said Herzog “tells me it is on its way.”
“He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero,” Trump said about Netanyahu. “How do you not give a pardon?”
Herzog’s office disputed Trump’s account, saying in a statement that the two haven’t spoken about the pardon since Trump’s letter requesting one. A Trump “representative” who spoke to Herzog about the pardon several weeks ago was told that “any decision on the matter will be made in accordance with the established procedures,” it added.
The president brushed aside the norms of international diplomacy when he targeted narcoterrorists, fought with European allies and bombed Iran. As part of our video series on Trump’s second term, The Wall Street Journal’s Alexander Ward sets out to learn whether this made America safer. Photo: Annie Zhao
“We’ve never had a friend—even close—a friend as President Trump in the White House,” Netanyahu said. “Sometimes we have different ideas but we work it out.…This was a very, very productive meeting.”
The show of support for Netanyahu wasn’t unusual for Trump, who often publicly embraces the Israeli leader, despite their longstanding tensions and sometimes sharply divergent goals. Politically, Trump faces a Republican base, particularly younger voters, that has been trending more critical of Israel.
Netanyahu said his government would be awarding the Israel Prize to Trump, the country’s highest civilian honor and one that he said has never been bestowed to non-Israelis.
Trump has held up the Gaza cease-fire as evidence of his administration’s dealmaking, arguing earlier this month that ending the war was “an impossibility” until his team stepped in.
Netanyahu has signaled he is open to going along with Trump on Gaza for now, while eyeing a resumption of military operations against Iran and new moves against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Trump has occasionally shown frustration with his Israeli counterpart, including after recent Israeli strikes in Gaza that U.S. officials warned could jeopardize the U.S.-brokered cease-fire. While the agreement has largely held, it remains fragile, and both sides have accused each other of violations.
Israel has signaled it won’t withdraw from the enclave until Hamas disarms. Meanwhile, U.S. efforts to persuade other countries to contribute troops to the proposed stabilization force have made little headway so far.
Trump said he wants to advance the Gaza cease-fire deal “as quickly as we can,” but placed the onus on Hamas, which he said has to relinquish its weapons or “there will be hell to pay.”
Before his meeting with Trump, Netanyahu met in Palm Beach with Itzik and Talik Gvili, the parents of the last remaining deceased hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili. He has insisted that the next phase of the Gaza cease-fire cannot begin until Hamas returns Gvili’s remains.
Under the first phase of the U.S.-brokered Gaza agreement, which went into effect on Oct. 10, both sides agreed to a cease-fire and Israel started a partial troop withdrawal to agreed lines within Gaza. But the two sides have resisted moving beyond the initial phase, which has left Israel controlling roughly half of the enclave and Hamas the rest.
The next phase calls for Hamas to disarm and give up any governing role in Gaza, while transferring security control to an international stabilization force. The process, which is intended to pave the way for eventually rebuilding the bombed-out strip, would be overseen by a Board of Peace chaired by Trump.
Israeli officials are skeptical the Trump plan will work and aren’t ruling out a new operation in Gaza. But publicly they say it is too early for Israel to disrupt the U.S.-led process.
“We are willing to give a chance to the implementation and support the ideas of disarmament,” said Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. “I don’t think now is the stage for us to step in.”
On Iran, Israeli officials and independent analysts say the country is reconstituting its ballistic missile program after Israel blew up its factories and launchers during a 12-day war in June. Israel wants to destroy Tehran’s rebuilding efforts before the country can improve its air defenses that were battered by Israel in the previous war, analysts say.
Trump has repeatedly said U.S. bombing of key Iranian facilities this summer wiped out Iran’s nuclear program and opened the door to regional peace—a notion that diverges significantly from Israel’s, analysts say.
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com, Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com and Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com
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Appeared in the December 30, 2025, print edition as 'Trump Threatens Military Action If Iran Rebuilds Nuclear Program'.