US and Israel have always been close, especially under Trump, but that makes even the smallest differences more evident.

President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, after two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot and killed Wednesday night outside the Capital Jewish

For Trump, a president who often boasts about "holding the cards" in high-stakes negotiations—most famously during a heated encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in late February—Lipner felt the U.S. leader once again appears to have the necessary leverage to get his way.