Trump confirms he called Netanyahu 'crazy' over Lebanon strikes, as Iran peace talks hang in the balance
The US president acknowledged a tense phone call in which he berated the Israeli prime minister for military action in Lebanon, a campaign that has prompted Iran to threaten suspending nuclear diplomacy.
The phone call
Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he called Benjamin Netanyahu "crazy" during a Monday phone call, telling the Pod Force One podcast he was "a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon." The Axios news site had first reported the exchange, citing anonymous US officials who said Trump used vulgar language and told the prime minister: "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."
Trump pushed back on the notion he was angry. "I wouldn't say angry. I was a little bit perturbed," he said. "I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him."
Netanyahu's response
The Israeli prime minister laughed off any suggestion of a rift. "Sometimes we have, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements," he told CNBC on Wednesday. "We always find a way to work them out, and we do so as great friends." He added that the two leaders can "disagree in the morning" and be in agreement by afternoon, and that they speak every two days about their "common goals."
Sometimes we have, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements. We always find a way to work them out, and we do so as great friends.
Iran negotiations at risk
The confrontation comes as Trump weighs a deal that would extend the US-Iran ceasefire and open talks on Tehran's nuclear programme. Iran responded to Israel's strikes on Lebanon by threatening to suspend talks with Washington. The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping lane, is also at stake. Trump said he thinks the strait will "resolve itself fairly quickly" but did not rule out it remaining blocked until the Labour Day holiday on 7 September.
I don't know. I mean, I think it could be (closed until Labour Day), but I think it's unlikely. I think that we'll have it. I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly.
Diverging war aims
Experts warned the call signals White House frustration nearly 100 days after the US and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran on 28 February. Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and president of crisis communications agency the Global Situation Room, told the BBC that Netanyahu "has a long history of doing his own dance, irrespective of what he has heard from Washington." Trump, he added, "decided to take the plunge with him, and is now learning a really hard lesson about what happens when you get into war with a pretty mercurial leader that has an agenda which doesn't always align with your own priorities."
Netanyahu has a long history of doing his own dance, irrespective of what he has heard from Washington. Trump decided to take the plunge with him, and is now learning a really hard lesson about what happens when you get into war with a pretty mercurial leader that has an agenda which doesn't always align with your own priorities.
A shifting alliance
El Confidencial reports that the rift may be structural, not merely tactical. A Gallup poll from February 2026 found 41% of Americans sympathise more with Palestinians than with Israelis, compared with 36% who favour Israel. The article argues that US and Israeli objectives have diverged over more than three months of war: Trump no longer seeks regime change in Iran but wants concessions on ballistic and nuclear programmes and a return to the pre-war status quo in the Strait of Hormuz, while Israel continues to pursue maximum destruction of Iranian state capabilities and those of its allies.
- US and Israel launch joint strikes on targets in Iran, beginning the 100-day conflict
- Trump calls Netanyahu 'crazy' over renewed Lebanon bombardments; Israel and Hezbollah agree to a truce the same day
- Trump confirms the phone call on Pod Force One podcast; Netanyahu tells CNBC the two have only 'tactical disagreements'
Casualties and timeline
At least 3,516 people have been killed in Lebanon since March, according to the country's health ministry. The phone call occurred on the same day Trump announced he had secured guarantees of a truce from both Netanyahu and Hezbollah, only for Israel to resume large-scale bombardments. The US-Iran war began with strikes on 28 February and has now passed the 100-day mark with military and political goals between Washington and Jerusalem still unaligned.
