It was, by most accounts, not a friendly conversation. On Monday evening, US President Donald Trump got on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and by the time it was over, the Israeli leader had been told, in no uncertain terms, to stand down. The call, first reported by Axios and attributed to two US officials and a third source briefed on the exchange, centred on Israel's escalating military campaign in Lebanon and Netanyahu's reported plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut. What unfolded was one of the most heated exchanges between the two leaders since Trump returned to office.
A US official's summary of Trump's remarks to Netanyahu read: 'You're fking crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.' A second source said Trump was 'pissed' and at one point yelled: 'What the fk are you doing?'
