Donald Trump is walking a delicate line between keeping the United States out of a widening Middle East conflict and projecting American strength as Israel and Iran exchange increasingly destructive strikes.
“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” Trump told ABC News on Sunday, carefully distancing the US from direct military action while leaving the door open for potential intervention.
The escalating conflict has seen Israel launch “Operation Rising Lion,” striking over 170 sites and 720 military facilities in Iran, including nuclear facilities at Natanz, Khondab, and Khorramabad. Iran responded with approximately 200 ballistic missiles and 100 drones targeting Israeli military and civilian sites, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Both countries report mounting casualties. Iranian state media claims 60 civilian deaths, including 20 children in a Tehran apartment building strike. Israel reports at least 10 people killed and over 100 injured from Iranian missile impacts.
Despite this dangerous escalation, Trump has maintained an unusually optimistic tone, predicting peace between the longtime enemies.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump posted on Truth Social, comparing the situation to other conflicts he claims to have defused during his first term, including tensions between India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia.
His comments stand in stark contrast to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed relentless attacks and stated that Israel’s campaign against Iran would intensify.
The clash comes as nuclear diplomacy has stalled. The sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, planned for this weekend in Oman, was canceled with Iran refusing to participate while Israeli attacks continue.
Trump claims these negotiations are ongoing despite the conflict. “No, there’s no deadline. But they are talking. They’d like to make a deal. They’re talking. They continue to talk,” he told ABC News, suggesting the current military exchanges “may have forced a deal to go quicker.”
In a surprising revelation, Trump expressed openness to Russian President Vladimir Putin serving as a mediator. “He is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it,” Trump said of Putin, adding, “This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”
Behind the scenes, Trump reportedly opposed an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to sources cited by CNN, though Netanyahu neither confirmed nor denied these reports.
While providing defensive support to Israel, Trump has resisted pressure from Republican allies like Senator Lindsey Graham, who has called for the US to be “all in for Israel” if diplomacy fails.
The Israeli operation against Iran is expected to take “weeks, not days” according to White House and Israeli officials, with Trump drawing a clear red line for direct US military involvement: an attack on American facilities or personnel.
“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” Trump warned in a Truth Social post, before pivoting to optimism: “However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”
For now, Trump appears determined to maintain his image as a peacemaker rather than a wartime president, even as the conflict threatens to undermine his January pledge to “bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.”
