U.S. President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., Dec. 29, 2025. (Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
BEIRUT — U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday during a tense phone call on Monday, leading Israel to suspend planned airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to Axios.
According to Axios, citing two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call, Trump called the Israeli prime minister "crazy" and "ungrateful" and shouted at him before accusing him of jeopardizing efforts to secure peace with Iran.
"It was the president who put the brakes on the Israeli plan to strike Beirut," one of the sources said, describing the exchange as "one of the worst" between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.
"Everyone hates you now. Everyone hates Israel because of this," Trump reportedly told Netanyahu, according to Axios, citing a U.S. official.
On Monday evening, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Netanyahu had committed during a "very productive" conversation not to "go into a major raid of Beirut," after Israel had threatened earlier in the day to strike Beirut’s southern suburbs. Trump also claimed that Hezbollah had "agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers," adding: "Likewise, Israel has agreed to stop shooting at them."
Netanyahu’s office later issued a statement saying Israel would strike Beirut if Hezbollah’s attacks continued, stressing that its position remained unchanged and that Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon would "continue as planned."
