Trump Urged Netanyahu to Pull Troops From Lebanon and Syria
Trump privately pressed Israel's PM to redeploy forces from both Lebanon and Syria, even as tensions with Iran stayed loud publicly.
Behind the tough talk on Iran, President Trump appears to be quietly pushing for de-escalation in the Middle East. According to an Axios report citing U.S. and Israeli officials, Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and urged him to start pulling Israeli forces out of Syria — and to do the same in Lebanon. "They don't want you there. You should redeploy," Trump reportedly told Netanyahu directly.
The timing of the leak is raising eyebrows among analysts. The source of the report was described as U.S. and Israeli officials, but there's a reasonable case that the American side deliberately let this slip out — possibly to signal to Iranian negotiators that Washington is still committed to a memorandum of understanding that requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory. In other words, the public bluster and the private diplomacy may be pulling in very different directions.
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Here's where it gets complicated for Netanyahu: Israel has a national election in roughly three months. Withdrawing troops from territories Israel currently occupies — even under pressure from its closest ally — is a politically risky move right before voters head to the polls. That tension between U.S. diplomatic goals and Israeli domestic politics could slow any real movement on the ground, regardless of what's said in phone calls.
Oil markets took notice of the broader Middle East uncertainty. West Texas Intermediate crude ticked up about a dollar to $79.15 per barrel around the time the report dropped — a modest but telling reaction to any news that shifts the calculus on regional stability. Traders tend to price in conflict risk fast, so even hints of diplomacy or escalation move the needle.
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