Trump, Netanyahu had tense phone call on future of Iran war: reports

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - May 21, 2026 11:31 am IST - Washington President Donald Trump with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. File | Photo Credit: AP U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a tense phone call over the future course of the war on Iran as Washington appeared to be in favour of a deal instead of the resumption of strikes, U.S. media reported. After the Tuesday (May 19, 2026) phone call with Mr. Trump, Mr. Netanyahu’s “hair was on fire”, U.S. media outlet Axios reported on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), adding that the Israeli Prime Minister was keen on the resumption of strikes to further degrade Iran’s military capabilities and weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure. Mr. Trump on Sunday (May 17, 2026) said he had put-off strikes on Iran, planned for Tuesday (May 19, 2026), following a request from Arab nations including Qatar and the UAE. A revised peace memo was drafted by Qatar and Pakistan with input from the other regional mediators to try to bridge the gaps between the U.S. and Iran, Axios reported, quoting sources. Mr. Netanyahu is highly sceptical about the negotiations and wants to resume the war to further degrade Iran's military capabilities and weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure. Mr. Trump continues to say he thinks a deal can be reached, but that he's ready to resume the war if it isn't. "The only question is, do we go and finish it up, or are they gonna be signing a document. Let's see what happens," he said on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) at the Coast Guard Academy. Later on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), he said the U.S. and Iran were "right on the borderline" between getting a deal and resuming the war. "It's right on the borderline, believe me. If we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go. We have to get the right answers — it would have to be a complete 100% good answers," Mr. Trump told reporters after he returned to Washington from the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut. There is a strong desire in the upper echelons of the Israeli government for renewed military action, CNN reported, quoting an Israeli source, and mounting frustration that Mr. Trump is continuing to allow what they say is Iran’s diplomatic foot-dragging. Mr. Trump also said Mr. Netanyahu "will do whatever I want him to do" on Iran, though he also said they had a good relationship. Iran has confirmed it's reviewing an updated proposal, but has not yet shown any signs of flexibility. Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) that negotiations were ongoing "based on Iran's 14-point proposal," and that Pakistan's Interior Minister was in Tehran to help the mediation. Mr. Trump told Mr. Netanyahu that the mediators were working on a "letter of intent" that both the U.S. and Iran would sign to formally end the war and launch a 30-day period of negotiations on issues like Iran's nuclear program and opening of the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. source briefed on the call told Axios. Donald Trump / Israel-US strikes on Iran Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Trump, Netanyahu had tense phone call on future of Iran war: reports

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Trump, Netanyahu had tense phone call on future of Iran war: reports

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