Trump ‘Disturbed’ By Israeli P.M. Netanyahu’s Gift Of Golden Pager, Tribute To Exploding Ones Used To Kill Hezbollah Fighters

During the first meeting of President Donald Trump’s second term, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gifted the president a gold-plated pager and the vice president a silver-plated one.

This came just a few months following Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah, nicknamed “Operation Grim Beeper,” where Israel sold handheld pagers and walkie-talkies containing explosives to Hezbollah operatives. They detonated in two coordinated attacks in Syria and Lebanon in September 2024.

Trump told reporters that the gifts were “disturbing” following the attacks in the Middle East, according to the New York Times.

Following this meeting and “disturbing” gift, the U.S.’s Israel policy took a large shift. Trump is now considering joining Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The president met with national security advisors to discuss what actions the U.S. should take next.

On social media, Trump threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, claiming the U.S. knows his location.

“He is an easy target, but is safe there,” Trump wrote. “We are not going to take him out, at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

Khamenei fired back by saying any form of U.S. military intervention will “undoubtedly be met with irreparable harm.”

“Wise people who know Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation in the language of threats, because Iranians are not those who surrender,” he commented.

Trump was getting tired of the pace of negotiations with Iran, concluding that talks were not progressing.

Trump considered for months whether to contain Netanyahu, telling an ally he was trying to drag the U.S. into another war in the Middle East, something he promised wouldn’t happen in his campaign. He does believe that Iranians were playing him during diplomatic negotiations. 

Even after Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, stated there is no intelligence that Iran was building a nuclear warhead, Trump continued to side with Netanyahu’s justification for airstrikes in Iran. 

In response to being told that Gabbard testified in front of Congress in March, that there is no information saying Tehran has been working on nuclear warheads, Trump said, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”

These comments, along with a video posted by Gabbard warning against entering conflicts and not engaging in a confrontation with Iran, have effectively excluded her from conversations about what actions to take regarding Iran. 

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Article by Riley Goldman