President Donald Trump confirmed reports of a heated phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s ongoing military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, revealing that he personally urged the Israeli leader to ease tensions.
Speaking with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, Trump acknowledged that he had grown frustrated with the continued fighting and pushed Netanyahu to bring the conflict under control.
“I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon. At some point I said ‘Bibi, we gotta stop this. We gotta stop it.’”
The comments came after an Axios report claimed Trump sharply rebuked Netanyahu during the call. According to the report, Trump warned the Israeli leader, “You’re f—— crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me.”
Trump did not repeat that language during the interview but confirmed that the two leaders had clashed over the issue.
The dispute unfolded as Iran suspended communications with U.S. negotiators, blaming Israeli military operations in Lebanon for the breakdown in talks.
In the aftermath of the call, the United States helped broker a partial ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group. The fragile truce quickly came under pressure, however, as Israeli officials accused Hezbollah of violating the agreement.
Israel on Wednesday warned residents in southern Lebanon to evacuate, saying the Israel Defense Forces were preparing additional operations in response to what it described as Hezbollah aggression.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Kuwait condemned a series of Iranian missile and drone attacks that authorities said struck civilian infrastructure, including Kuwait International Airport.
In a statement posted by the country’s foreign ministry, Kuwaiti officials denounced what they described as escalating Iranian attacks.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the State of Kuwait’s condemnation and denunciation, in the strongest terms, of the brutal and ongoing Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones, the latest of which occurred at dawn today, targeting once again civilian and vital facilities, including Kuwait International Airport, resulting in the death of one individual, injuries to others, and damage to vital facilities, including diplomatic missions,” part of the statement declared, according to a translation of the Arabic-language post on X.
A spokesman for Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense said a building at Kuwait International Airport sustained damage and multiple people were injured. The update was relayed through a post from the official account of the Kuwait Army General Staff Headquarters.
The developments underscore the increasingly volatile situation across the region, with fighting in Lebanon continuing to complicate U.S. efforts to maintain a broader ceasefire with Iran and its allies.
Netanyahu’s disagreement with Trump marked one of the most public signs of tension between the two longtime allies as the administration seeks to prevent the conflict from spreading further across the Middle East.
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