President Donald Trump said in France on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a “small dispute” over Lebanon. He described Netanyahu as sometimes getting “too excited,” but also called him a “wonderful partner” and “wonderful prime minister.” Trump said he told Netanyahu that Lebanon could be handled more gently, adding, “you don’t need to bring down a building every time,” while stressing that Israel is the “big partner” and “they are the very small partner.”
Trump defended the emerging agreement with Iran and attacked those who wanted the United States to keep bombing. “Whoever wanted us to keep bombing Iran was stupid,” he said, warning that continuing the strikes could have caused “an economic disaster.” He argued that markets rose whenever Washington said a deal was near and fell when it said otherwise. He also claimed that if the bombing had continued for one, two or three more months, “what would have been left,” and said the Strait of Hormuz might never have opened and that Iran could have destroyed the Middle East, “including Israel.”
The president said the current arrangement is only a memorandum of understanding, and if no progress is made in the next 60 days, “we will simply go back to bombing them,” though he said he does not want that to happen. He said the memorandum with Tehran will be signed soon and that he sent Israel a copy of it. Trump added that Iran needs investment after “damages in the billions of dollars,” but said, “someone will have to help, it will not be us.”
Trump also announced that technical talks on nuclear stockpiles would begin immediately and thanked Israel and Netanyahu. He praised U.S. military power, saying the U.S. bombed their bridges with F-22s and that Iran was waiting for the B-2 bombers and did not see them. He said the deal could lead to a broader Middle East agreement, noted that Hamas has been quiet lately, promised to work to stop Iranian aggression and the war in Lebanon, said Syria under al-Sharaa could handle Lebanon more effectively, and expressed hope that Saudi Arabia would help expand the Abraham Accords.
