WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has confirmed a tense exchange with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he reportedly berated his close ally with expletives.
In an interview published Wednesday in the New York Post, Trump was asked about the conversation he had with Netanyahu over the phone on Monday.
“You said, ‘Are you f-ing crazy? What are you f-ing doing? I helped you stay out of jail.’ Is that true? Did you speak to him in those terms?” the interviewer asked.
“I did,” Trump responded. “I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.”
“I said, ‘Bibi, we gotta stop this.’”
Trump went on to say he had a “very good relationship” with Netanyahu. “We’ve done well together… I like Bibi a lot.”
Trump unleashed the profane tirade over Israel’s threats to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut, fearing it would undermine talks with Tehran to end the war in the Middle East, the Axios news outlet and ABC News reported.
The exchange underscored the shaky ties between two right-wing allies who started the war by launching an attack on Iran in late February that spread to Israel striking Lebanon.
Israeli media have rejected the account of the conversation.
A White House official referred AFP to Trump’s Truth Social posts from Monday in which he thanked Netanyahu for what he said was an agreement to pull troops back from Beirut.
Iran had reportedly halted peace talks because of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
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