Less than two weeks ago, Donald Trump told the Financial Times that he personally dictated the terms of the Iran war. "I call the shots," he said. "I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots." He meant Benjamin Netanyahu. He was wrong.
On Sunday, June 7, Netanyahu struck Beirut's southern suburbs without warning, a strike the White House had explicitly asked Israel not to make. Tehran, which had conditioned any peace deal on a Lebanon ceasefire, launched four ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation: the first direct Iranian missile attack since the April 8 ceasefire. By Monday, June 8 (the 100th day of the war Trump helped launch on February 28), Israel had struck Iran's Mahshahr petrochemical complex, Iran had sent a second wave of missiles, and an Iranian official told reporters that a deal with Trump was "no longer feasible at this stage."
Oil jumped nearly 5 percent. Brent crude hit $97.65 a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had agreed to reopen as part of any deal, remained closed.
The Deal That Was "Largely Negotiated"
In late May, Trump announced on Truth Social that a peace agreement with Iran was "largely negotiated." His envoys had reached a tentative 60-day memorandum of understanding with Tehran: a ceasefire extension, the Strait of Hormuz reopening, Iranian oil sales permitted, nuclear talks to follow. Trump asked for changes. Iran made counteroffers. JD Vance called them "very close."
The whole negotiation rested on one condition Iran repeated at every turn: Israel had to stop fighting in Lebanon. Hezbollah operates there. Netanyahu had been striking southern Lebanon and threatening Beirut for weeks. Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey were all working to hold the ceasefire together. Pakistan's interior minister was literally mid-visit to Tehran when Israel struck Beirut on Sunday. The mediators told Washington the Beirut strike was designed "to disrupt our efforts to reach a deal."
The White House did not respond to questions about whether the Beirut strike was coordinated with the U.S. It was not.
The "Fucking Crazy" Call That Changed Nothing
Trump's inability to control Netanyahu was not new. On June 1, after Israel threatened to bomb Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's Dahieh district, Trump called Netanyahu and delivered what two U.S. officials described as an expletive-laden rebuke. "You're fucking crazy," Trump told him, according to Axios. "You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this."
Netanyahu stood down briefly. Israel announced it would not strike Beirut. Then, days later, Netanyahu struck Beirut anyway.
Trump called again Sunday night to urge restraint after Iranian missiles hit northern Israel. "Trump got Bibi to hold off for the time being," a senior U.S. official said. By Monday morning, Israel had struck western and central Iran. Iran's Revolutionary Guard called it Operation Nasr ("Victory") and said it had targeted two Israeli military bases. Missile sirens sounded in Jordan. Houthi rebels in Yemen re-entered the fighting and threatened to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes, putting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait back in the crossfire.
"A deal with President Trump is no longer feasible at this stage." Iranian official involved in U.S.-Iran negotiations, June 8, 2026, via CNBC
What This War Has Cost on Day 100
The war began February 28 when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders. A ceasefire took effect April 8. In the 61 days since, neither side has fully held it. Houthi attacks never stopped. Israel never stopped striking southern Lebanon. Iranian-backed militias kept firing. Each side accused the other of violations while negotiators tried to paper over the gaps.
Trump sold this war as a decisive blow and his personal diplomatic genius as the exit ramp. The deal he described as "largely negotiated" included a 60-day window to negotiate Iran's nuclear future: not a final resolution, not a binding commitment, but a pause long enough to let Trump declare victory before the fine print was read. Iran's nuclear stockpile of highly enriched uranium remained intact throughout.
Now, on day 100, Brent crude is approaching $100 a barrel. Regional powers from Egypt to Pakistan are furious at Washington. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed. And the man who told the Financial Times he "calls all the shots" is calling Netanyahu for the third time asking him, please, to stop.
What Comes Next
The mediators working to prevent full war resumption told the U.S. administration directly that "Trump has to stop Netanyahu's reckless maneuvers." That is not a diplomatic pleasantry. It means the countries doing the actual diplomatic work (Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia) have concluded that Netanyahu is the primary obstacle and that Trump either cannot or will not move him.
Iran has been specific about its terms. A ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, is the prerequisite for any nuclear deal. That was the condition before the war, during the ceasefire, and after Sunday's strikes. Israel striking Beirut is not a side issue; it is the central one. Until that fighting stops, Iran's negotiators have said there is nothing left to negotiate.
Trump can still make calls. He can still threaten consequences. He can still tell reporters that Netanyahu "won't have any choice." But Netanyahu has now, twice in eight days, made a different choice. The president who claimed he controlled this war is left managing its daily damage, waiting to see whether the next ceasefire holds longer than the last one did.
Sources
- NPR / Associated Press: Israel and Iran trade strikes, threatening to drag region back to full-scale war (June 8, 2026)
- Axios: Iran fires missiles at Israel for first time since ceasefire (June 7, 2026)
- Axios: Trump to Netanyahu: "You're fucking crazy" (June 1, 2026)
- CNBC: Oil prices spike nearly 5% as Iran and Israel trade strikes (June 8, 2026)
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