Trump claimed on Truth Social that he had known nothing about the targeting of Iran’s gas reserves in advance – key US politics stories from 19 March 2026 at a glance
The US-Israeli war against Iran has exposed further divisions between the two countries after an Israeli strike on Iran’s largest gasfield angered US allies in the Gulf and prompted Donald Trump to say he knew nothing in advance about the attack – a claim that Israeli officials disputed.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he had spoken to Benjamin Netanyahu following the strikes on Iran’s South Pars gasfield – part of a reserve shared with Qatar – and had told the Israeli prime minister to refrain from further attacks that could escalate a regional war on energy infrastructure.
“I told him: ‘Don’t do that,’ and he won’t do that,” Trump said. “But on occasion he’ll do something, and if I don’t like it … and so we’re not doing that any more.”
Also today, Israel’s prime minister denied that Donald Trump was “dragged” into the war by Israel, as he tried to pour cold water on suggestions that Israel influenced the US’s decision to attack Iran amid growing signs that the US and Israel are not aligned on their war aims.
