Ahead of Israel’s general election on October 27, President Trump called Prime Minister Netanyahu a “strong, brave and intelligent” leader in a social media post.
US President Donald Trump has expressed support for Israel’s incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a close race in the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 27th.
President Trump praised the leader of Israel, an ally of the United States in the war against Iran, in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. He added that he expressed Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “complete and total support.”
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“Bibi Netanyahu will never let you down!” Trump wrote.
The US president’s endorsement was announced nine days before the Israeli election, but after speculation that he might not be supported at all.
Earlier this month, President Trump refused to endorse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when asked repeated questions about the Israeli leader’s job performance in an interview with Time magazine.
Instead, when pressed by his interviewer, Trump avoided the topic and shifted his focus to his own popularity and Middle East security.
The two leaders have met more than six times since January 2025, but there have been reports of disagreements over the war with Iran and other conflicts.
In June, President Trump acknowledged that in a phone call, he called Netanyahu “fucking crazy” and expressed dissatisfaction with Israel’s attack on Lebanon.
President Trump reportedly asked Prime Minister Netanyahu not to take any further action in Lebanon, an apparent attempt to preserve the brief April ceasefire with Iran.
The two leaders jointly launched a war against Iran on February 28, but the conflict cost President Trump domestic support.
The war has transformed the world’s oil and gas supplies, with no clear end in sight.
A Pew Research Center poll this month found that roughly two-thirds of U.S. voters disapprove of President Trump’s war response, which has driven up fuel prices for consumers and raised concerns about depleting military stockpiles.
President Trump’s Republican Party faces critical midterm elections on Nov. 3 that will determine whether it retains control of the U.S. Congress and other key state and local offices.
Experts speculate that President Trump’s reluctance to support Prime Minister Netanyahu so far stems from the public’s perception that Israel led the United States to war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right coalition also face the prospect of losing the October election to an opposition coalition led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot.
In a statement of support Sunday, President Trump said it was only a matter of time before Iran attacked both the United States and Israel.
Trump claimed that the war has already “systematically destroyed Iran militarily and financially, and unless they rapidly change their ways, we will be done with the job quickly.”
“If Israel had the wrong leader, someone other than Bibi, America would have to do this job itself, and I am not willing to do that,” Trump wrote.
“Bibi Netanyahu was strong, brave and intelligent in the face of tremendous opposition, including even from Israel itself.”
