On Wednesday, shortly after reports emerged that Israeli warplanes had attacked Iran’s largest gas production plant, US President Donald Trump posted a militant message on Truth Social.
“We’re putting them out of business,” he said, following the attack on Iran, which has some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. Israeli officials also told reporters that the attack was carried out with the coordination and consent of the United States.
But hours later, when Iran retaliated with an attack on Qatar, Trump changed his tune. This time, the United States clarified that it had “no knowledge of this particular attack” and declared that “there will be no further Israeli attacks” on the South Pars gas field unless Iran attacks Qatar. Same president, same day, same strike – two contradictory stances.
This is the second time since the joint US-Israel military operation against Iran began that the US has publicly distanced itself from Israeli attacks. Last week, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a fuel depot in Tehran, Axios reported the first major disagreement between the two allies, with a Trump adviser reportedly saying, “The president doesn’t like attacks.”
Two Israeli officials told CNN that the attack on the fuel depot, like other military operations in this operation, had been coordinated in advance with the United States. But one acknowledged that the White House “may have been surprised” by the size of the impact on fuel prices and the extent of the environmental damage. Another said the U.S. government had privately conveyed a message to Israel calling for more restraint.
As Israeli military jets launched attacks on gas production facilities on Wednesday, another Israeli official stressed that the operation was limited to natural gas and power infrastructure, not oil refineries, suggesting President Trump’s concerns about fuel prices were factored into the target selection. But when Iran’s retaliatory attack on Qatar sent oil and gas prices soaring again, President Trump didn’t mind reprimanding Israel.
“I told him (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) we wouldn’t do that, and he said we wouldn’t do that,” Trump said Thursday in response to a question about oil and gas facilities. “We get along very well. Everything is coordinated. But sometimes he does something and if I don’t like it, we don’t do it.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference on Thursday that the operation targeting Iran’s South Pars gas field production facility had no direct U.S. involvement and was carried out solely by Israel, and that President Trump had urged Israel to refrain from further attacks of this type.
Israeli officials told CNN that Wednesday’s attack was carried out in coordination with the US government. A third Israeli official said after the airstrike that “Israel would not make such a move unless the US knew about it.” A US official also told CNN that the US was “aware” of the attack.
Although U.S. Central Command denies U.S. involvement in the attack, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro wrote in X that “the likelihood of the IDF conducting an attack in that location without full visibility to CENTCOM is zero, zero.”
The White House directed CNN to ask President Trump about his comments in response to a question about Thursday’s airstrike.
Two leading Israeli intelligence sources believed that Qatar was a major factor in Trump’s rebuke, noting that this is not the first time that pressure from Doha has led Trump to distance himself from Israeli actions.
In September 2025, after Israel attempted to assassinate Hamas’ political leadership in a Doha airstrike, President Trump issued an unusual rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Truth Social magazine, writing that the decision was “not mine to make” and “does not advance the goals of Israel or the United States.” He later told reporters he was “very dissatisfied with how things turned out.”
“I’m not excited about the whole situation,” he said.
President Trump also facilitated a direct apology call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the White House, even though the call sparked political backlash within Israeli leadership. Shortly after, the White House announced a plan to end the war in Gaza, and a cease-fire agreement was announced that guaranteed the release of Israeli hostages within two weeks.
“President Trump sides with Qatar whenever he has to choose between the interests of Qatar and Israel,” one of the sources told CNN. “If we distance ourselves from energy strikes, someone will be held accountable if fuel prices continue to rise.”
CNN has contacted Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
Trump’s intervention also mirrors events in June 2025, when Trump ordered the Israeli Air Force to recover a jet that was on its way to attack Iranian targets, effectively ending the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.
Israel recognizes that similar strategic interventions are possible. With rising gas prices and domestic opposition to a protracted war, President Trump’s political timetable is likely to be shorter than Israel’s, and he could once again move to abruptly end the war.
