President Trump caught off guard by Israeli strikes on Syria.

 

Damage to a government building in Damascus. The Guardian/AFP. 

President Donald Trump was caught off guard by Israeli airstrikes against Syria. The Guardian/AFP. Israel launched strikes on Damascus and Sweida in response to sectarian violence between pro-Syria Bedouin militia and the Druze minority. Trump was also surprised by a strike on a Catholic Church in Gaza, which was likely due to a missile going off course. Trump reportedly called Israel Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu to "rectify" both situations. The strikes stopped after a US brokered cease-fire between Israel and Syria went into effect today. 

Privately, US officials were outraged, with one being quoted as saying that Benjamin Netanyahu is a "madman" who "bombs everything all the time". New York Post. US officials are especially mad that Netanyahu put the normalization of relations with Syria at risk, which has been a priority after the Assad regime fell. Though Benjamin Netanyahu was given a warm welcome when he visited the United States, there has been a lot of tension between Trump and Netanyahu due to some of his actions. 

My Comment:

A quick note on the sources used in this post. The Guardian/AFP piece seems a lot more trustworthy as it has direct quotes from government officials on the record. The New York Post piece does not quote any officials on the record so, as always, keep that in mind. I generally don't like posting things based on anonymous sources, given how often the media lies about things, but it does seem like the other reporting backs at least some of this up. 

And it does seem clear that the US-Israel relationship is not as strong as it once was. I do think that the Trump administration is getting sick of them and, unlike the antisemitic critics of Trump (who call him "Zion Don"), it's clear that Trump is willing to criticize Israel when they do something he disagrees with. 

And it's clear that Trump disagrees with Israel's strikes on Syria. Those strike were supposedly on behalf of the Druze in the region, but it probably had less to do with that and more with Israel's ambition in the country. They want a DMZ on their border for a multitude of reasons. They don't trust Syria's government, they are worried about pro-Iran militias and even Turkey. 

What is worse is that Trump told Israel to stop, and they did for awhile, but then they launched further strikes. I am guessing that infuriated Trump as he doesn't like being ignored. He was able to convince Israel to back down and got a cease fire in place, but it isn't a good sign that there is so much discord between Trump and Israel, if the 2nd report of officials calling Netanyahu a "madman" are true. The other quotes in that piece weren't any better and if there is even a little truth to the reports, then both Trump and the US government are upset. 

So why is Trump upset? He is trying to normalize relations with Syria, probably because he hopes that it can recover after the devastating civil war. Trump does not like the violence and he genuinely would like to be seen as a peacemaker and normalizing relations with Syria is part of that goal. You can argue about the wisdom with that, I don't trust a government that was basically al-Qaeda just a few years ago, but you can absolutely argue that Israel is working cross purpose to that. 

It's not the first time there has been discord recently. Remember, Trump reached a separate peace with the Houthis in Yemen, leaving the Israelis left out to dry. And I think Trump joined the war against Iran as much to reign in the Israelis as it was to stop Iran's nuclear program. Trump was so mad when Israel violated the cease fire that he was swearing on video. 

Trump before boarding the president's helicopter.

"We have two countries (Israel and Iran) that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they are doing." pic.twitter.com/uIbDwGhKPz

— OSINT Europe 🇪🇺 (@Osinteurope) June 24, 2025

It does make me wonder if there is a point where Trump will simply wash his hands with Israel. It's clear his administration is frustrated with their actions, and though they don't seem to care about Gaza, Trump has to be angry that Netanyahu is screwing up his ambitions in Syria. I am guessing that Israel is playing a pretty dangerous game here.