Overview:
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed reports that he sharply rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a tense phone call over Israel’s military operations in Lebanon. While Trump described himself as merely “perturbed,” the exchange highlights growing pressure from Washington to prevent a wider regional conflict as ceasefire efforts and negotiations with Iran remain fragile.
By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran
In short:
(ABC-Australia) Donald Trump has told a US podcast he was a “little perturbed” during a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu in which he reportedly told the Israeli prime minister he was “f***ing crazy”.
Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, has said that he and Mr Trump “agree on the main things”.
What’s next?
It remains unclear whether the ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran will hold after Tehran ordered strikes on a US base in Kuwait.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-04/trump-confirms-expletive-laden-call-with-netanyahu/106757196
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US President Donald Trump has confirmed he unleashed an expletive-laden character assessment against the Israeli prime minister earlier in the week, as he convinced Benjamin Netanyahu to pull back from planned attacks on the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
On Monday, local time, Mr Netanyahu announced he had ordered his country’s military to strike the Hezbollah stronghold suburb of Dahiyeh in south Beirut.
It followed a weekend of intense fighting in southern Lebanon, with more Israeli air strikes across the region and volleys of Hezbollah rockets and drones launched at Israeli soldiers and communities along the border.
Hours after Mr Netanyahu’s order, and before the Beirut attacks began, he spoke to Mr Trump by phone.
US news outlet Axios reported the president was furious, with an official saying he told Mr Netanyahu: “You’re f***ing 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,” he reportedly said.
In an interview with a New York Post podcast, Mr Trump was asked if he had used such language.
“I did. I wouldn’t say [I was] angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon,” he said.
“You know, at some point I said, ‘Bibi, we got to stop this. We got to stop it.'”
The US president insisted he had a good relationship with Mr Netanyahu.
“I’m a wartime president. He’s a wartime prime minister.”
‘We agree on the main things’
Hours later, Mr Netanyahu appeared on business news network CNBC and was asked about the conversation.
“I’m not going to get into details of our conversations, we’ve had thousands,” he said.
“We agree on the main things. We want to get Iran, the nuclear program in Iran, finished.
“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.
“We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon, we have a common action.”
Mr Netanyahu deferred to the US president on the future of negotiations with Iran to formally end the war in the Middle East, which began on February 28.
He said it would be up to Mr Trump whether there was a return to fighting with Iran, but insisted his country’s military was ready for whatever came next.
The president continued to spruik the progress of negotiations with Iran, and said he would be prepared to meet with Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei at some point in the future.
He noted the ayatollah, who replaced his father as leader of the regime, had been injured in strikes early in the war.
Reports from Iran have suggested he is in hiding and is only contactable through messengers.