What Is Trump’s Golden Pager? The Gift From Netanyahu Raising Eyebrows
A gold pager gift points to one of Israel’s most unusual intelligence missions against Hezbollah.
Published March 12 2026, 11:11 a.m. ET
Americans are raising their eyebrows after reports resurfaced about President Donald Trump receiving a gift from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump’s so-called “golden pager” is a gold-colored pager mounted on a wooden stand that Netanyahu presented to him during a February 2025 White House visit.
What is the golden pager a reference to?
According to Reuters, the gift referenced Israel’s pager operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In September 2024, a covert Israeli intelligence operation triggered thousands of explosions from pagers used by Hezbollah members across Lebanon and parts of Syria. The attack was one of the most unusual sabotage operations in modern warfare.
The 2024 pager and walkie-talkie blasts killed 39 people and injured more than 3,400 others. Victims included Hezbollah members as well as civilians who were near the devices when they exploded.
The golden pager served as a symbolic reference to that operation and as a nod to Trump’s long-standing support for Israel. The plaque reportedly described Trump as “our greatest friend and greatest ally.”
The message was not subtle. Netanyahu has long viewed Trump as a major political asset because Trump’s first term delivered several major wins for Israel. Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and helped broker the Abraham Accords. Trump also praised the relationship himself. “We have a very good relationship,” he said in 2024, according to Reuters.
Are Trump and Netanyahu actually friends?
Publicly, Trump and Netanyahu are acting like close partners again. Privately, the relationship has had real cracks. Reuters reported that Netanyahu angered Trump by congratulating Joe Biden after the 2020 election, and Trump later criticized Netanyahu over the failures that preceded Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
During his first presidency, Trump made several moves that Netanyahu applauded. In 2018, the United States moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move Israel had pushed for decades, according to The Times of Israel. In 2019, Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, marking the first time the United States officially acknowledged Israel’s control over the disputed territory.
That same year, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear deal that Netanyahu had strongly criticized.
Trump’s administration also helped broker the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Since then, the U.S. has joined in to help Netanyahu in the war against Iran. According to Reuters, the Feb. 28 strike was planned for months in coordination with Washington and Israel.
Trump has also gone to bat for Netanyahu personally. Trump urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, saying he did not want anything troubling the prime minister during the war with Iran. “I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive wartime prime minister, and is now leading Israel into a time of peace,” Trump wrote, per CNN.