[News] Trump advisors want Israel to 'attack Iran first,' let US troops get hit to muster public support for war

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Trump advisors want Israel to 'attack Iran first,' let US troops get hit
to muster public support for war: Report

The White House is trying to manage the 'optics' of starting an unprovoked
war on Iran

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

FEB 26, 2026 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/trump-advisors-want-israel-to-attack-iran-first-let-us-troops-get-hit-to-muster-public-support-for-war-report
( Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP)

Senior US officials want Israel to strike Iran before Washington launches a
renewed assault on the country, POLITICO reported
<https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/25/white-house-politics-israel-strikes-iran-00799456>
on 26 February, to gain more support among US voters for war.

Advisors to US President Donald Trump are “privately arguing that an
Israeli attack would trigger Iran to retaliate, helping muster support from
American voters for a U.S. strike,” POLITICO wrote, citing two people
familiar with the discussions.

“The calculus is a political one – that more Americans would stomach a war
with Iran if the United States or an ally were attacked first,” the
magazine added.

According to recent polls, a majority of US voters support Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-time goal of regime change in Iran, but
do not support risking the death of US troops to accomplish it.

Influential conservative journalist Tucker Carlson has expressed his
opposition to any attack on Iran, saying it would be done on behalf of
Israel.

“What I really object to, what makes me mad, is when American leaders,
whose job it is to represent Americans, are more loyal to a foreign country
than they are to their own,” he said
<https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-887767> on Saturday.

Trump’s advisors are therefore considering the optics of how an attack is
conducted and what justification is best to use, such as Iran’s nuclear
program.

“There’s thinking in and around the administration that the politics are a
lot better if the Israelis go first and alone and the Iranians retaliate
against us, and give us more reason to take action,” said one of the people
familiar with discussions.

POLITICO noted that negotiations with Iran are appearing less and less
likely to succeed; therefore, “the primary question is becoming when and
how the US attacks.”

Whether or not Israel attacks Iran first, as it did during the 12-day war
on the Islamic Republic in June, “the likeliest scenario may be a jointly
launched US-Israel operation,” the two people speaking with POLITICO said.

Trump is under pressure from the Israeli prime minister, who visited the
White House last week to insist that US negotiators demand that Iran give
up its nuclear program, ballistic missile program, and its support for
resistance movements in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and
Ansarallah in Yemen.

A third round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the US, held in
Geneva on Thursday, concluded after several hours of talks described as
“positive” by Omani mediators.

However, reports said Washington stuck to its “tough” demands and is only
offering “minimal” sanctions relief.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei referred to US demands as
“contradictory,” adding that “US leaders should focus on negotiations
rather than sending mixed messages.”

Despite the talks, those closest to the president say that “we’re going to
bomb them,” one of the people familiar with discussions told POLITICO.

However, this raises fears that the US military’s supplies of missile
defense interceptors will quickly be depleted while seeking to stop
barrages of Iranian ballistic missiles on US warships and bases in the
region.

“There’s a high likelihood of American casualties. And that comes with lots
of political risk,” said one person familiar with the discussions.

US supplies of missile interceptors are already low after defending Israel
during its war against Iran in June and following years of transfers to
Ukraine, its war against Russia.
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