Trump Sidesteps Netanyahu Endorsement in Time Interview Despite Close Ties and Record White House Access

United States President Donald Trump declined on three separate occasions to throw his support behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's upcoming elections, according to an interview published Thursday in Time magazine. The refusal to endorse came despite a relationship that has featured at least seven White House meetings since January 2025 — more than Trump has held with any other world leader — and repeated public praise from the American president.

The exchange began when the interviewer asked whether the Israeli public should grant Netanyahu another term in office. Trump deflected the question entirely, stating that he is "not involved in politics any more, except that we're popular," while claiming he enjoys "99 percent" approval among Israelis. The figure was offered without evidence, but it reflects the president's longstanding habit of citing crowd sizes and poll numbers as measures of political capital, a tendency that has followed him from domestic rallies into the realm of foreign diplomacy.

When pressed a second time on whether Netanyahu deserved another term, Trump instead listed his own actions on Israel's behalf. He highlighted Washington's continued security support for the Israeli government and pointed to his decision during his first term to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a move that reversed decades of American policy and delighted Israeli officials while inflaming tensions across the Middle East. The interviewer, noting the apparent contradiction, responded that it seemed Trump was "doing a lot of work for him" and asked again whether Netanyahu should remain in power.

Trump's third response avoided the endorsement once more, pivoting to his signature foreign policy refrain. "No, my primary thing — I do want to help them defend Israel," he said, adding that his constant message is that "Iran cannot have a nuclear power because they are crazy and you can't let crazy people have nuclear weapons." The comment tied the question of Israel's leadership to the broader confrontation with Tehran, a framing that has become central to Trump's second-term foreign policy.

The interview comes at a delicate moment for both leaders. Netanyahu faces an election on October 27, with opposition blocs led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot leading in some polls. The campaign has been shadowed by questions about the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, including reports that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates had warned Netanyahu's government of an impending assault. Trump batted away those reports, telling Time: "I think if he would have known, he would have done something about it."

The American president nonetheless offered a note of personal affinity for the Israeli leader, acknowledging that "people have written off Bibi many, many times, just like they've written off me many, many times," using Netanyahu's nickname. "I wouldn't underestimate Bibi," he added — a statement that, while warm, stopped short of the explicit electoral backing Netanyahu might have hoped to extract from his most important international ally.

Trump also left the door open to a shift in US support should Eisenkot prevail. Asked whether American security backing would continue if the opposition leader won, Trump replied: "Well, I don't know. I don't hear bad things about him." The remark signals that the president is at least willing to entertain the prospect of a post-Netanyahu government, even as he maintains public warmth toward the current prime minister.

The political context in Washington helps explain the president's caution. Trump and his Republican Party are grappling with mounting discontent over the administration's handling of Israel, particularly amid perceptions that the Israeli government influenced the US decision to launch a joint war against Iran in February. That conflict has driven up petrol prices across the United States, turning it into a key vulnerability for Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections, which will decide control of the Senate and House of Representatives for the final two years of Trump's term.

The tension between Trump's personal rapport with Netanyahu and the domestic costs of the relationship was on display in July, when the president hosted Netanyahu at the White House for a seventh visit. The meeting took place despite concerns over Israeli obstructions to ending the conflict and to achieving a more durable peace in Gaza, and it drew criticism from within Trump's own coalition. The president's willingness to absorb that political risk underscored how central the alliance remains to his approach, even as he now stops short of converting it into an electoral endorsement.

On the question of Iran, Trump struck a characteristically aggressive tone, saying he may still seek to "annihilate" the country and could resume bombing after the midterm vote. The comments suggest that any pause in military action is driven at least partly by electoral timing rather than a change in strategic intent. For Netanyahu, who has long positioned himself as the leader best equipped to confront Tehran, the remarks offer both reassurance and a reminder that Washington's posture remains contingent on American political calculations.

Trump has also publicly pushed for a pardon in Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial, a gesture that goes well beyond the usual bounds of diplomatic courtesy. Government officials have nonetheless leaked accounts of private discord between the two leaders, and Trump's latest comments reflect that duality: effusive in praise, protective on the October 7 question, yet conspicuously silent on whether Israelis should return Netanyahu to office.

For Israeli voters heading to the polls, the signal may be ambiguous. They have seen Trump treat Netanyahu as a favored partner, but they have also now seen him decline three opportunities to say the partnership should continue. Whether that reticence reflects genuine neutrality, tactical caution ahead of the US midterms, or a hedge against a possible Eisenkot victory, the effect is the same: the most powerful endorsement in world politics remains withheld, leaving Netanyahu to fight his campaign without the explicit blessing he has spent years cultivating.