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Trump rejects idea that Israel drew US into war with Iran: 'If anything, I might have forced Israel's hand'

On March 3, 2026, the Cleveland Jewish News republished a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report, Trump rejects idea that Israel drew US into war with Iran: 'If anything, I might have forced Israel's hand'. The page says it was updated on March 5. The Cleveland Jewish News is a Jewish community newspaper in Cleveland. It says stories on its World pages come from aggregated news feeds, and this one appeared first at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. No individual reporter is named. The report quotes President Donald Trump rejecting the claim that Israel pulled the United States into the war with Iran. It also says he had not ruled out sending troops into Iran, and that some lawmakers feared a longer war. Sending troops into Iran would mean American soldiers on Iranian soil. An American family should care because, in the same week as joint US-Israeli strikes, a news report was already tying the president's own suggestions to that possibility.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency report, republished by the Cleveland Jewish News, quotes the President at the White House and reports, in its own words, that he had not ruled out sending troops into Iran. The rating covers that report.

What the article says​

The report says Trump rejected claims on Tuesday that Israel had pulled the United States into the war. It says he suggested instead that he had "forced their hands." It sets that against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told reporters on Monday that the United States entered the conflict because officials "knew that there was going to be an Israeli action" and expected to be pulled in. The article says Rubio's comments led critics to ask whether Trump was taking cues from Israel. It links another Jewish Telegraphic Agency story for that argument. This page did not open that link.

At a White House press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said, "Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first and I didn't want that to happen." The article then quotes him:

So, if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand, but Israel was ready and we were ready.

Donald Trump, at the White House, as quoted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 3, 2026. The article says those claims appeared to contradict Pentagon reports to Congress on Sunday that there was no intelligence Iran planned to attack US forces first. It links a Reuters story for that. This page did not open Reuters. It also quotes Trump saying that without the current action "you would have had a nuclear war." It says Trump and Netanyahu have denied that Israel steered the United States into the conflict, and that critics still question how much Israel shaped US actions.

The article says Merz spoke of a shared desire to get rid of the "terrible regime in Iran." It says Trump added that Germany had allowed US forces to land in "certain areas," and that the United States was not asking Germany to provide troops. The article also notes a Sunday statement by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom about defending their interests and allies in the region.

The article describes his suggestions about American soldiers in its own words:

suggestions by Trump that he had not ruled out sending troops into Iran have spurred concern from some about the potential for a drawn-out conflict.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, as republished by the Cleveland Jewish News, March 3, 2026. The full sentence also says Republican lawmakers largely backed the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday morning, and that American casualties were rising. It links a New York Post story for the "not ruled out" point and a Hill story for the concern in the Senate. This page did not open those two stories.

What other reporting and posts add​

A US government document later used the word "request." Snopes rated True the claim that an official US document said the country entered the war "at the request of" Israel: "State Department legal adviser Reed Rubinstein wrote that the U.S. entered the Iran war 'at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States' own inherent right of self-defense.'" Snopes also cited "a March 10 letter to the United Nations" from Ambassador Michael Waltz saying operations were "being conducted in close cooperation with, and in the collective self-defense of Israel." Snopes, 30 April 2026. (capture: twitter/t13__v146.md)

Israeli and pro-Israel voices rejected the "dragged" claim. Netanyahu, at a June press conference as C-SPAN's transcript rendered it: "ISRAEL DID NOT DRAG THE U.S. INTO A CONFLICT WITH IRAN." C-SPAN, 3 June 2026. (capture: twitter/t13__v145.md) Israel National News, a right-leaning Israeli outlet, asked: "Where is the memorandum? Where is the threat? Where is the instruction?" Israel National News, 22 April 2026. (capture: twitter/t07__v074.md) Avi Mayer granted that "Netanyahu pitched President Donald Trump on a military campaign against the regime for several months," but concluded "that is not why America went to war." Jerusalem Journal, 16 April 2026. (capture: twitter/t13__v146.md)

An American official who resigned said the opposite. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on 17 March; his letter, as quoted by Al Majalla, said Iran posed "no imminent threat" and that the administration "started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby." That is his accusation. Al Majalla. (capture: twitter/t12__v144.md)

Troops, the same week. On 2 March Trump told the New York Post he did not have "the yips with respect to boots on the ground"; see Trump pushes back on Iran war plan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "would not rule out the possibility of sending American ground troops to Iran," The Washington Post reported that day. The Washington Post, 2 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t56__v668.md)

What it shows​

In the war's first week, the question of who pulled whom into the war and the question of American troops appeared on the same page. The President said "I might have forced Israel's hand," while his Secretary of State said the US went in because officials "knew that there was going to be an Israeli action." Seven weeks later, the State Department's own legal adviser wrote that the US entered the war "at the request of" Israel. The same week, the President was reported as not ruling out troops in Iran and told the New York Post he had no "yips" about boots on the ground. See Israeli Leaders on a Ground War and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Background for a new reader: the United States and Israel launched a joint air war on Iran on Saturday, 28 February 2026. Within days, the most heated question in America was not only whether soldiers would be sent, but whether Israel had pulled the United States in. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is a Jewish news wire founded in 1917; the Cleveland Jewish News reprints its stories. This page is where the two questions meet: a president denying that Israel drove the war, and a report that he had not ruled out troops.

Research captures: twitter/t13__v146.md, twitter/t13__v145.md, twitter/t07__v074.md, twitter/t12__v144.md, twitter/t56__v668.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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