Trump Attacks Netanyahu and Says Syria Could Handle Hezbollah

At a joint appearance with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Evian, France, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, U.S. President Donald Trump launched another attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and floated an unusual idea: that Syria and its new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, should deal with Hezbollah. He also said Iran’s current leadership was “rational, not extremists,” and “pleasant to work with.”

Trump said the U.S.-Iran agreement was finished and should succeed, adding that it was now moving to a second phase he expected would be easier. He insisted the deal makes clear that Iran can never obtain nuclear weapons. “If they do that, all hell will fall on them,” he said, while stressing that the only thing that mattered to him was preventing Iran from acquiring a bomb.

He argued that Washington had already struck Iran twice and was preparing for a third strike before stopping, and he praised the current Iranian negotiators as strong, smart, and non-extremist. When asked whether the deal would hold even if Iran’s government resumed executions, he did not rule it out, saying most such actions happened under earlier leadership.

Trump also claimed that without U.S. intervention, “there would be no Israel,” saying Iran would have destroyed Israel and perhaps the wider Middle East if it had nuclear weapons. He then said the agreement could survive even if Israel attacked in Lebanon, calling the Hezbollah front a “small war” compared with Iran.

Turning to Syria, Trump said he had helped bring al-Sharaa to power alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others, and said the Syrian leader was working to unify the country and was especially tough on Hezbollah. He argued that Israel has fought the group for too long and that it should not have to destroy apartment buildings in the process because civilians live there. He said he had suggested Israel let Syria handle Hezbollah, since, in his view, it would do it better. Trump also criticized Netanyahu over the strike in Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood just two hours before the agreement was set to be signed, calling it disproportionate and saying he was not pleased with Israel’s conduct in Lebanon.