Trump and Netanyahu Grow Frustrated in Tense Calls Over Iran and Lebanon

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the tone of recent phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become markedly less friendly, as Washington and Jerusalem spar over Iran and the war’s wider fallout. The report comes as the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding.

In one call, according to a source familiar with the conversation, Trump sharply criticized the destruction in Lebanon, asking Netanyahu, "Why are you blowing up buildings? Stop blowing up buildings." Trump also compared the damage to the global economy caused by the war to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The report said the two also argued over the nuclear issue in the U.S.-Iran memorandum. In one exchange, Netanyahu asked Trump about Iran’s nuclear program, "Donald, how are you going to make sure of this?" In other conversations, Netanyahu gave Trump historical reasons not to trust the Iranians. At another point, Trump told aides that nobody can handle Netanyahu and that he wanted to "bomb them all," according to someone who heard the remark.

In a recent interview with the Journal, Trump said Netanyahu is great, but "sometimes he overdoes it." A senior U.S. official said Netanyahu usually urges Trump to take more military action and that Trump has grown tired of it. The official said, "Bibi tells the president why he needs to bomb something, why Israeli intelligence knows how to do it and when to do it, and the president listens. The conversations are usually the same."