US-IRAN WAR: ‘You’re f**king crazy,’ Trump admits blasting Netanyahu over Lebanon strikes
US President Donald Trump has confirmed using an expletive-filled tirade against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “crazy” during a tense phone conversation over Israel’s continuous military operations in Lebanon.
The outburst occurred while the United States was actively trying to broker a peace deal to end its ongoing war with Iran.
‘I was perturbed’ — Trump
Speaking on the Pod Force One podcast broadcast on Wednesday, Trump was asked directly if he had accused the long-serving Israeli leader of ingratitude and called him “effing crazy,” referencing an earlier report by news outlet Axios.
“I did,” Trump admitted during the interview. “I wouldn’t say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know.”
READ ALSO: TRAGEDY IN DUBLIN: 21-year-old Nigerian-Irish concert promoter fatally stabbed after club brawl
Despite the harsh words, Trump maintained that he and Netanyahu still “get along very well.”
According to the leaked details of the Monday phone call, Trump reportedly told Netanyahu, “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
Reflecting on the exchange during his podcast appearance, Trump added, “At some point I said, Bibi, we got to stop this. We got to stop it.”
Israel recommends calm, declines official comment
Netanyahu’s office has declined to comment on Trump’s public confirmation of the heated call.
While official Israeli sources have remained silent since the report surfaced, Israeli media outlets have quoted insider sources playing down the friction, insisting the relationship between the two allied leaders remains intact.
The diplomatic friction comes at a critical time. Iran has explicitly stated it will not sign a peace treaty with the United States to end the war—which Trump and Netanyahu launched in late February—unless the ceasefire is extended to Lebanon.
Israel invaded Lebanon in March to target Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned militia that had been launching cross-border attacks in solidarity with Tehran.
Despite a US-mediated truce announced on Monday—where Israel agreed to halt airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah agreed to stop cross-border rockets—violence has persisted. On Wednesday, Lebanese security sources reported that Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel reported intercepting a hostile drone, presumably launched by Hezbollah.
‘There would be no Israel without me’
When questioned during the podcast if Netanyahu had “tricked” him into launching the military campaign against Iran, Trump bristled, labeling his critics “the enemy.”
“I mean, I’m the one that started it,” Trump stated. “I started because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
He continued, emphasizing his role as Israel’s ultimate protector: “Now that pertains to Israel, because they probably would have been the first one to get hit. There would be no Israel. Tell you what, if there wasn’t me, there would be no Israel right now.”
Trump further argued that Israel would be in a far worse geopolitical position had he not withdrawn the US from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) during his first term in 2018. The Obama-era deal had lifted economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.
Following the US exit from that deal, Iran accelerated its nuclear enrichment, producing stockpiles of near-weapons-grade uranium—which Trump is now demanding Tehran relinquish as part of any new treaty.
However, Trump’s critics argue that his initial withdrawal allowed Iran to get closer to a nuclear weapon than ever before, making a favorable new deal significantly harder for Washington to secure today.
