Trump Praises Putin and Xi, Repeats Sharp Criticism of Netanyahu

In his first conversations with media outlets after finalizing the deal with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for helping reach the agreement, while again attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the strike in Beirut’s Dahieh district. Speaking to The New York Times, Trump said Netanyahu’s decision to carry out strikes had “almost torpedoed the final agreement.”

Trump called Netanyahu “a very difficult man” and said he should be “very grateful” to the United States. “Because if Iran had nuclear weapons, Israel would not exist even for two hours,” Trump said. The Times reported that the 80th-birthday phone call came at Trump’s initiative and lasted 28 minutes. In a brief follow-up call, Trump said his decision to strike Iran at the end of February, and the naval blockade he imposed afterward on Iranian ports after Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz, had reshaped the Middle East in America’s favor.

Trump also said that if Iran does not reach a final nuclear agreement, a process that begins after the memorandum of understanding signed in Switzerland on Thursday, he will resume military strikes on Tehran or turn the United States into the region’s “guardian” in exchange for 20 percent of regional revenues. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump repeated his harsh criticism of Netanyahu and the Dahieh strikes, saying, “Bibi should not have done that. I did not like it at all.”

He described the Iranian response as two small missiles that missed badly, and warned that if both sides kept retaliating, “the whole thing will never stop in the Middle East.” Even so, Trump said Netanyahu supports the deal with Iran, adding, “Bibi is okay with it. Why is it good for Bibi? Iran cannot have nuclear weapons under any circumstances.”