Trump confirms Axios report on heated call with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu over Lebanon attacks
“I did,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t say angry, I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.”
Loading the front page…
“I did,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t say angry, I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.”
In an interview with Miranda Devine for Pod Force One on Wednesday, President Donald Trump confirmed reporting from Axios that he had a heated call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week. He reportedly was fired up over Israel's attacks on Lebanon, going as far as to curse at the Israeli leader.
"Axios reported that you had a phone call with BB Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel," Devine asked, "in which you were angry with him. You said 'are you effing crazy? What are you effing doing? I helped you stay out of jail.' Is that true? Did you speak to him in those terms."
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/2062197724854808967?s=20
"I did," Trump replied. "I wouldn’t say angry, I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon. You know, at some point, I said BiBi, we gotta stop this. We got to stop it."
He added, "But I have a very good relationship, we’ve done well, done well together. He always says we could never have done it, but everybody knows that we could never have done it without the United States." Trump said he likes Netanyahu "a lot and I’ve worked very well with him."
The report from Axios on Monday, citing two US officials and a source briefed on the call, said that Trump had called Netanyahu "crazy" during the call, and accused him of not being grateful. The call came as Iran had threatened to abandon its negotiations with the US over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. One of the officials said that during the call, Trump told Netanyahu that Israel would be further isolated from the world if it went through with plans to bomb the Lebanese capital city of Beirut.
A US official summarized Trump’s comments during the call, saying, "You're f*cking crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this." A source briefed on the call said that Trump was "p*ssed."
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
