US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

NBC’s Senior White House Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez irresponsibly editorialized his coverage of the Iran conflict this week to insinuate that Israel was trying to “drag” the United States into a conflict it did not want to be in.

During a July 29 report for NBC Morning News NOW, Gutierrez gave a situation report following Iran’s attempted surprise attack against US troops in Jordan on July 28.

His report followed a meeting between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Trump called “very good,” adding that “many important subjects were discussed.” Meanwhile, Gutierrez framed the meeting like this:

Now Prime Minister Netanyahu said that it was a good meeting, one of the best meetings he’s had with President Trump, but going into it there were some discussions about whether the Prime Minister was potentially trying to drag the U.S. back into this war by bringing up Iran trying to rebuild its nuclear program at one of its key facilities, Pickaxe Mountain.

Gutierrez referenced another interview during which Trump said, “I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe [Mountain]; it’s not a big problem.” What Gutierrez failed to disclose in his report was that the very next thing Trump said during the same interview. Citing the success during Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, the president added that “we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll take it out very easily.”

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson correctly noted that the president “sounded a little irked there” at Netanyahu for speaking so openly about Pickaxe Mountain. Several reasons could explain the president’s irritation. Plausibly, fearing an ongoing conflict ahead of midterms is one, but operational security and not signaling our next move to the enemy is another.

Any of these reasons, or others, could be why he sounded annoyed. But all the public can do is speculate. Gutierrez chose to present only the speculation that served a particular narrative.

His punditry echoes that of prominent far-right figures. In March, Tucker Carlson said that the war happened “because Israel wanted it to happen.” He added “This is Israel’s war. This is not the United States’ war.” Candace Owens, another far-right, conspiracy theory-peddling commentator, suggested that “Trump has betrayed America and expects you to die with Israel.”

U.S. military actions and Trump’s statements in recent weeks also undercut Gutierrez’s argument. Before the short pause in airstrikes on July 24, US Central Command (CENTCOM) had carried out 13 consecutive nights of strikes against Iran, reflecting an escalation brought about by the regime’s disregard for key terms of the June Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the United States.

Just over one week after the United States and Iran signed the MOU, Iran resumed attacking vessels in the critical narrow waterway, the Strait of Hormuz. On June 25, Iran hit a cargo vessel “on the starboard side” in the Strait of Hormuz, in Omani territorial waters, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

On June 27, Iran attacked the M/T Kiku near the Strait of Hormuz. The UKMTO confirmed several additional attacks on July 5, 6, and 7.

These attacks prompted the US military to begin launching retaliatory strikes against regime targets in Iran on July 7 and 8, leading to the 13 consecutive nights of operations against the regime. Throughout it all, the United States has surged more military assets into the Middle East, including special operations forces, F-16s from Germany, F-35s from England, and aerial refueling airframes, including KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46 Pegasus. The situation sure doesn’t appear to resemble one where Trump is trying to avoid conflict or be at odds with Netanyahu over it.

Additionally, Trump has always stated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and recent reports suggested that Iran had relocated centrifuges key to the process of enriching uranium to the heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain. A senior Israeli diplomatic source corroborated those reports on July 29, telling The Jerusalem Post that the Twelve-Day War had “not destroyed” Iran’s nuclear program, which targeted key infrastructure at the nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.

The president is aware of this and has threatened in recent weeks to strike Pickaxe Mountain. Trump said on July 21 that US forces would probably strike the complex “pretty soon” and “very heavily,” adding, “we follow the [enriched] material.” In another interview with Hugh Hewitt on July 13, even earlier in the month, Trump said that “we’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready.”

Trump understands that the Islamic Republic is increasingly likely to revive its nuclear program, specifically at the key site of Pickaxe Mountain. A July 24 New York Times report citing the US intelligence community even indicated that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whom Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected after Israel and the United States eliminated his father Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes of the war, is in greater haste to acquire a nuclear weapon than his father was.

By framing Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump through the unsubstantiated lens that Israel was attempting to “drag” the United States back into war, without any evidence, NBC encouraged viewers to interpret routine discussions between allies as evidence of manipulation, while omitting the broader context that undermines that narrative.

But most tellingly, Gutierrez and NBC’s preferred narrative is one that disregards the obvious for the conspiratorial. Perhaps two allies just have shared interests and goals. Perhaps the world’s superpower isn’t subject to the whims of a tiny nation with 1/34th of the population, 1/45th of the GDP, and 1/440th of the landmass. Perhaps the Jews, who represent a mere 0.1 percent of the global population, are not in control of all world events.

In any case, the evidence points in the opposite direction of Gutierrez’s insinuation. The Islamic Republic is attacking international shipping, directing attacks on US forces in the Middle East, and resuming its nuclear program in the Pickaxe Mountain facility. In a sense, Gutierrez is right that a foreign country is dragging America into war with Iran. But that foreign country is Iran itself.

The author writes for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.