Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump
Trump Confirms Calling Netanyahu ‘Fucking Crazy’ in Explosive Phone Call
United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “fucking crazy” during a heated phone call on Monday, while insisting the two leaders continue to maintain a close working relationship. Speaking on the “Pod Force One” podcast with New York Post host Miranda Devine, Trump acknowledged his frustration over Israel’s escalating military campaign in Lebanon, which he said was complicating broader diplomatic efforts with Iran.
Trump told the podcast that he was “a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.” When asked directly whether he had used the explicit language against Netanyahu, Trump replied simply: “I did.” Despite confirming the heated exchange, Trump stressed that his personal rapport with Netanyahu remains intact. “We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” he said, adding that he believed a resolution to broader regional tensions would come “fairly quickly.”
Trump’s confirmation followed an explosive report from Axios on Monday, which cited two U.S. officials and another source briefed on the conversation. According to the report, Trump launched into a profane tirade against Netanyahu over Israel’s threatened strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut. The Axios report quoted Trump as telling 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.” Another source briefed on the conversation said Trump was “furious” and at one point shouted: “What the fuck are you doing?” According to the report, Trump also referenced his support for Netanyahu during the Israeli leader’s ongoing corruption trial, claiming he had helped keep him out of prison.
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The reported outburst was linked to Netanyahu’s plans for major strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut. U.S. officials told Axios that Trump recognized Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks but believed Netanyahu’s response had become disproportionate. Trump was particularly concerned about civilian casualties in Lebanon and objected to Israeli operations that reportedly involved destroying entire buildings to target individual Hezbollah commanders. The timing of the call proved critical. Earlier on Monday, Iran had threatened to walk away from negotiations with the United States over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. Tehran has made clear that it will not agree to a deal to end the war unless a ceasefire also covers Lebanon, where Israel invaded in March to pursue the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia. One U.S. official described the exchange as among the “most difficult” conversations between the two leaders since Trump returned to office.
Despite the tense exchange, the phone call produced tangible results. Trump announced on Truth Social that Netanyahu had agreed to call off a “major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!” An Israeli official told Axios that Israel no longer plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut. According to understandings reached between the two leaders, Israel would refrain from striking Beirut provided that Hezbollah does not attack Israeli territory. However, Israel’s expanded ground operation in southern Lebanon would continue. One U.S. official told Axios that Trump “steamrolled” Netanyahu on the call, and the prime minister responded by saying, “OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of.”
Adding complexity to the story, Israeli media and officials have disputed key aspects of the Axios report. An unnamed Netanyahu staffer denied that Trump cursed at or personally attacked the prime minister. While acknowledging the call was “tense,” the Israeli source claimed Trump did not say that Netanyahu would be in prison or that everyone “hates Israel.” A senior Israeli official briefed on the call later told The Times of Israel that the Israeli account disputing the more dramatic elements was “accurate.” However, Axios reporter Barak Ravid, who broke the story, stood by his reporting, telling Channel 12 that Trump twice used the f-word during the first of two calls between the leaders Monday night.
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In the same podcast interview, Trump dismissed suggestions that Netanyahu had manipulated him into starting the war with Iran, a claim made by some Democratic critics. “He tricked me? I’m the one that started it,” Trump told the New York Post. “I don’t want to bore anybody, but I started [the war with Iran] because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon. Now, that pertains to Israel because they probably would have been the first one to get hit.” Trump went further, asserting his critical role in Israel’s survival. “I’ll tell you what, if it wasn’t for me there would be no Israel right now,” he said. The president dismissed his critics as “Dumbocrats” and rejected accusations that he was doing Israel’s bidding in the Iran war.
The strained exchange underscores the increasingly shaky ties between two right-wing allies who both face significant political pressures at home. Trump wants a way out of a war that has badly hit the U.S. economy less than six months before midterm elections, which will determine whether his Republican party keeps control of Congress. Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces the possible collapse of his right-wing coalition and is under fire for bowing to Trump on matters of security after calling off the plan to attack Beirut. This is not the first time Trump has expressed frustration with Netanyahu. In September 2025, Trump reportedly told top aides that Netanyahu was “fucking me” regarding ceasefire violations in Gaza. Former ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, noted that tensions between Netanyahu and U.S. presidents are not unusual. “In fact, he has a perfect record of reaching that point of frustration with every U.S. president he’s worked with,” Shapiro told AFP.
Trump used the podcast interview to make several bold claims about ongoing negotiations with Iran. He said Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is directly involved in talks to end the war and that he would “like to meet him.” When asked about Khamenei’s condition—U.S. officials have previously claimed the Iranian leader was seriously injured in the same bombing that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war—Trump said: “If you believe the stories, he’s, you know, missing a lot of different parts.” Trump also claimed that Iran has agreed it will not obtain a nuclear weapon, saying: “We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon and lots of other good things are going to happen.” According to Trump, a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz as early as this week, easing pressure on global energy markets. Despite expressing optimism, Trump acknowledged that negotiations have faced multiple setbacks, but maintained that “this will resolve itself fairly quickly.”
Despite the diplomatic maneuvering, fighting resumed in southern Lebanon as clashes broke out again between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on Monday night. Drone strikes killed eight people, including a father and his two children. Trump’s office has not provided additional comment beyond the president’s Truth Social posts and podcast interview. Netanyahu’s office has not publicly responded to either the Axios report or Trump’s subsequent confirmation of the remarks. The White House referred AFP to Trump’s Truth Social posts from Monday when asked to confirm the Axios account, where the president thanked Netanyahu for agreeing to pull troops back from Beirut.
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