Netanyahu Trump nuclear strike
Netanyahu faces President Herzog’s coalition consultations on Wednesday after his bloc fell eight seats short of a Knesset majority Screenshot from X/@IsraeliPM

Benjamin Netanyahu calls Donald Trump every day to press him to launch a nuclear strike on Iran, and the US president could make his decision by 7 November, Tucker Carlson has claimed.

In a post on X on Sunday that drew more than 11.7 million views, the former Fox News host cited 'an informed observer', writing, 'Bibi calls Trump about it every day.' He added, 'Close observers say Trump is likely to decide by next weekend whether or not to use nuclear weapons.'

Trump Pledged No Strikes Before the Midterms

The US and Israel launched their war on Iran on 28 February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. An April ceasefire and a June interim peace deal both collapsed. The White House has pledged no attack before Tuesday's midterm elections, and US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper briefed Trump on military options on Thursday.

Axios, citing one Israeli and one US source, reported that during a phone call on Saturday, Netanyahu urged strikes immediately after the midterms, while Trump wanted negotiations to play out. The Israeli source described the call as 'tough'. The US source called it 'direct'.

'Just had a very good talk with him,' Trump told reporters in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday, confirming that Iran was discussed. 'We've had such a victory, and we'll put it away very soon, one way or the other.'

Carlson Names Pickaxe Mountain as the Target

Carlson wrote that the target would be Pickaxe Mountain, where he said Israeli intelligence believes Iran has restarted uranium enrichment. 'No conventional weapon in the American arsenal can penetrate 300 feet of solid granite to destroy the tunnels where enrichment is supposedly taking place,' he wrote. 'The only military option is a nuclear strike.'

The site, beside the Natanz enrichment complex, has not been hit in the war. Nonproliferation analysts estimated in 2023 that it lay 80 to 100 metres underground, while the US military says its GBU-57 bunker-buster penetrates at least 60 metres.

Trump named the site himself on Saturday. 'We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,' he said at Mar-a-Lago. 'You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that.' He did not specify weapons. On 15 October, he told Newsmax, 'I wouldn't use nuclear.'

Netanyahu's Coalition Problem

Carlson linked the alleged pressure to Israel's 27 October election, in which Netanyahu's bloc won 53 of 120 seats, short of the 61 needed to govern. 'Netanyahu is cornered and desperate,' he wrote, claiming only Trump's intervention could secure him a majority. Without it, Carlson said, Netanyahu faces 'ignominy, investigations and possibly jail.' He added, 'He needs this war.'

President Isaac Herzog begins consultations on Wednesday on who should first try to form a government, with rival Gadi Eisenkot projected to win about 60 recommendations to Netanyahu's 46. The Washington Post has reported that Netanyahu's camp is pushing for a unity government with Eisenkot, who has refused to serve under him. Netanyahu, on trial since 2020 on bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges that he denies, is still awaiting a decision on the pardon he requested in November 2025.

Israeli officials have denied steering US policy before. 'We do not tell the president of the United States what to do,' public diplomacy chief Tzipi Hotovely said in July.

Talks Continue in Doha as Carlson Draws Criticism

Carlson said Trump is hesitating and listening to Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff, who he said argue a deal is possible. Vance wrote to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei last week about reviving talks, and Iranian negotiators spent a third day with Qatari mediators in Doha on Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said no decision on strikes had been made. In Tehran, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces on Saturday to be ready for any attack.

Asked last week about post-election strike plans, a White House official said, 'We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist.' Pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer accused Carlson on X of 'spreading the hoax' that Trump would use nuclear weapons on Iran.