The Trump–Bibi Relationship: Power, Obedience, and the Master’s Leash
- john raymond
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
Donald Trump’s recent comments urging others not to criticize Benjamin Netanyahu are not the words of an ally defending a friend. They are the words of a master warning others to stay in their place. What we are witnessing is not international diplomacy but a feudal power structure in which submission buys protection and defiance earns humiliation.
Trump’s worldview is one where strength justifies dominance, and those who submit are shielded only so long as they obey. It is no accident that he can call Netanyahu out for “not knowing what the fuck he’s doing” — and then turn around and declare that others must refrain from criticizing the Israeli prime minister.
In Trump’s mind, Netanyahu is his client, his subordinate. And clients do not get to act independently without consequence.
This is not a deviation from Trump’s pattern. It is the pattern. The same dynamic defines his relationship with Vladimir Putin. Trump is not the top of the chain; he performs the same deferential obedience to Putin that he demands from Netanyahu. Putin offers Trump the same deal Trump offers Bibi: protection in exchange for loyalty. The entire system is one of asymmetric control. The strong may scold the weak. The weak may not even speak ill of the strong.
The recent rupture in this dynamic — Netanyahu’s decision to act unilaterally in striking Iran, reportedly without coordinating through Trump — revealed the brittle nature of this power structure. Trump’s anger was not over military strategy or national interest. It was over disobedience. His frustration was personal, not geopolitical. Netanyahu had broken the chain of command. He had acted without the master’s permission.
And yet, the hierarchy is back. Fragile, yes. But restored. Trump now signals that Netanyahu is once again under his wing — not out of admiration, but out of restored obedience. The message is clear: Netanyahu may have stepped out of line, but he has since returned. And in return, Trump will protect him. From criticism. From scrutiny. From consequences.
This is not alliance-building. This is ownership. Trump’s statements are not those of a statesman, but of a feudal lord reasserting control. His ability to forgive Netanyahu should not be framed not as diplomacy or shared values, but as a transactional, dominance-based worldview: “You are mine. You embarrassed me. Now you’ve bent the knee again, and I’ll shield you.”
The implications are serious. When international relationships are governed not by mutual respect but by personal power dynamics, the global order itself becomes fragile.
Netanyahu is not being defended because Israel’s security demands it. He is being defended because he has remembered his place. This is not about national interest. It is about personal control.
In a world governed by strongmen and survival politics, this is the shape power takes: the leash, the scolding, and the conditional reprieve. And in that twisted architecture, the illusion of alliance persists — but only for those willing to crawl on their bellies before the strong.
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