‘Everybody hates you now’: Trump blasts Netanyahu in call over Lebanon strikes
The confrontation was triggered after Iran issued a warning earlier that day, threatening to halt diplomatic engagements with Washington over ongoing military actions in Lebanon
US President Donald Trump lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a heated telephone conversation on Monday, holding the Israeli leader responsible for generating global animosity towards his nation, Axios reported.
The confrontation was triggered after Iran issued a warning earlier that day, threatening to halt diplomatic engagements with Washington over ongoing military actions in Lebanon. This prompted an aggressive intervention from the US President, who at one point yelled at Netanyahu, "What the f*** are you doing?"
According to a US official cited by Axios, Trump expressed immense frustration over what he perceived as a disproportionate military response to Hezbollah's strikes on Israel.
The report noted that the US President strongly objected to the destruction of entire buildings to target an individual Hezbollah commander, whilst also taking issue with Tel Aviv's escalating threats against Beirut.
Another source privy to the discussion summarised part of Trump's comments as "everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this," Axios reported.
Following the volatile exchange, Netanyahu's office released a statement asserting that Israel's position "remains the same".
However, a US official told Axios that Trump had actually "steamrolled" the Israeli Prime Minister during the call.
Axios quoted the official as saying, "Bibi said, 'OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of.'"
An additional administration official remarked that the interaction stood out as one of Trump's worst calls with Netanyahu since the commencement of his second presidential term.
In the wake of the diplomatic showdown, Trump took to social media to outline the immediate fallout of his intervention.
In a post on Truth Social, the US President announced that Netanyahu had "turned his Troops around" after he explicitly asked the Israeli leader "not to go into a major raid of Beirut".
Demonstrating his intent to keep the broader Middle East diplomatic track alive despite the friction, Trump wrote in a subsequent post that talks were continuing "at a rapid pace" with Iran.
