Christian Whiton, a former State Department adviser in President Donald Trump’s first term, told Newsmax on Friday that relations between Trump and Israel are “night and day” than the previous four years under the Biden administration.
Whiton told “American Agenda” such strong backing by the Trump administration gave Israel the confidence to commence targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities Thursday night and continue its offensive until the job is done.
“What Trump has said is a big difference than what preceded him in the Biden administration,” Whiton said. “[Former President Joe] Biden would say things publicly about support for Israel, but behind the scenes, the Biden administration was harping on the Israeli government not to take action against Iran. And Biden personally hated Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
“And this is a night-and-day situation with President Trump, who did not want to see conflict in the Middle East. He wants to focus the military more on Asia and focus on economic growth. But now that this has happened, it’s unequivocal support and a guarantee that the United States will continue to supply arms to Israel to replenish stocks that are expended, including the missile defense systems. And I think that will help give the Israeli government the confidence to do what is necessary.”
Israel’s strikes on Iran came amid an apparent stalemate in negotiations between the Trump administration and Tehran on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. Special envoy Steve Witkoff was set to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday for a sixth round of negotiations, but those are unlikely to take place.
“Trump genuinely did want a deal and still today is offering Iran an off-ramp if it wants to talk,” Whiton said. “There were discussions planned for this weekend — on Sunday. Iran is unlikely to show up, but Trump is saying he’s still willing to do it. … It was an earnest attempt, and the Iranians just threw it back in our face.”
“And also, one other thing: The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna just issued a report this week saying Iran was in noncompliance. And Iran basically in response to that, telling them — and this isn’t just America, this is much of the world — that they were actually going to, because of that, expand their nuclear activities.”
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