U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” during a phone exchange over fighting in Lebanon. The call came as the U.S. was attempting to broker an end to hostilities involving Iran.
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he had called the longtime Israeli leader "effing crazy" and accused him of ingratitude, paraphrasing a report by Axios.
"I did," Trump told the "Pod Force One" podcast. "I wouldn't say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know."
He said he and Netanyahu get along very well and recalled telling him, “Bibi, we got to stop this.”
Netanyahu, asked about the Axios report, declined to offer details of the conversation but said his relationship with Trump had not changed.
"We have common goals. Sometimes we have, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements," he said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday.
"He's been the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House, and he respects me; I respect him. We always find a way to work out our differences."
Iran has said it will not agree to a deal with the United States to end the war launched in late February unless any ceasefire also includes Lebanon.
Hostilities have continued despite a U.S.-mediated agreement announced on Monday that led Israel to step back from attacking the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and targeted a car south of Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said. Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.
Trump said Israel would have been in a much worse position if he had not withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal brokered under Barack Obama. He argued that Iran’s nuclear programme has since advanced and that his decision helped protect Israel’s security.
After Trump withdrew from that deal during his first White House term in 2018, Iran produced stockpiles of near-weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, which Trump now demands it relinquish.
Trump's critics say Iran is now closer to making a nuclear weapon, and it will be hard for Trump to negotiate a better deal.
Trump has used expletives about Israel in the past, including publicly saying last year that Israel and Iran "don't know what the fuck they are doing."
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U.S. President Donald Trump said he sees progress between Israel and Lebanon after talks with Netanyahu, while Hezbollah has rejected a new ceasefire proposal and Israel has ruled out a troop withdrawal.
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for the 5 June, covering the latest developments you need to know.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation that would provide new aid to Ukraine and impose additional sanctions on Russia, marking the latest instance of Republican lawmakers breaking ranks with President Donald Trump and party leaders.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire after U.S.-backed talks in Washington. The deal requires Hezbollah to halt attacks and withdraw from southern Lebanon, while both sides will resume direct talks later this month aimed at reaching a broader agreement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said in a statement that its Aerospace Force did not strike the Kuwait Airport passenger terminal on Wednesday, and that the destruction was instead caused by a failed U.S. Patriot missile.
Five Azerbaijani citizens have been killed and three others injured following drone attacks on two cargo vessels in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire after U.S.-backed talks in Washington. The deal requires Hezbollah to halt attacks and withdraw from southern Lebanon, while both sides will resume direct talks later this month aimed at reaching a broader agreement.
Azerbaijan has strongly rejected allegations published by CNN claiming that its territory was used for Israeli military and intelligence operations against Iran, describing the report as entirely baseless and demanding a retraction.
As Armenia heads toward parliamentary elections on 7 June, the country's relationship with Azerbaijan is emerging as one of the defining issues of the campaign, with analysts and international observers highlighting the role of regional politics in shaping voters’ mindsets.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Monday they targeted the source of an attack on a telecom facility on Sirik Island near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Iran really wanted to make a deal with the U.S. and that it would be a good one for Washington and its allies, President Donald Trump said on Monday.
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. threats to impose sanctions on and bomb Oman following reported talks between Muscat and Tehran on jointly overseeing the Strait of Hormuz, reiterating that the Islamic Republic’s actions in the strategic waterway are “lawful”.
The United States has warned Oman against supporting any effort to impose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Washington would penalise any parties involved in facilitating such a system.
The Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps of Iran (IRGC) said it carried out a retaliatory attack on a U.S. airbase in the early hours of Thursday. The airbase was used to target a ground control station on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport in Hormuzgan Province, which faces the Strait of Hormuz.
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