President Donald Trump, 80, claims he is the only reason Israel still exists, and that he tells the Middle Eastern nation what to do.
In a new interview with Axios, the octogenarian president made the audacious claim after being asked, “Are you going to be able to control Israel from attacking Lebanon?”
Interrupting The Axios Show host Marc Caputo mid-question, Trump interjected with a dismissive “Yeah, I will be.”
When asked how, he replied nonchalantly: “They have a lot of respect for me, and they do as I say.”
In the interview, Trump moved between first and third person as he discussed Israel and his relationship with the country’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“If it weren’t for Donald Trump, and Bibi Netanyahu worked well with me, but he will tell you we’re the ones with the guns, we’re the ones with the whole deal, we’re the ones with the B2 bombers, etcetera,” he says.
“If it weren’t for Donald Trump, Israel would have been eviscerated.”
He then followed up with an extraordinary comment about the Israeli leader when asked directly about their relationship.
“It’s good but we have to keep him a little bit, uh, sane.”
The comments came as Trump attempted to keep Israel from launching any further strikes against Lebanon, which would compromise the Iran war deal.
But Israel does not seem to be singing from the same song sheet as Trump. Far-right Jewish Power party leader and Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted on X on Friday that “all of Lebanon must burn.”
He said in the post that “for every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep.”
“With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit,” he went on.
“All of Lebanon must burn. Our supreme duty is to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF, and this commitment takes precedence over every other consideration.”
In a remarkable screed, Ben-Gvir appeared to reject diplomacy altogether.
“Enough with the ping-pong,” he said. “In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint—you need to go berserk. To obliterate. To crush the terror.”
Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a condition of its deal with the United States, and talks over the future of Iran’s nuclear program that were scheduled to start Friday were postponed after Israel breached an earlier ceasefire.
At least 47 people were killed in Israeli air raids in southern Lebanon on Friday, but a new ceasefire is reportedly in place as of 5 p.m. Friday.
Israel reported four soldiers had died in Hezbollah attacks in Lebanon, the deadliest of the war so far.
Hezbollah and Israel have both agreed to the new ceasefire.
The White House and the Israeli Embassy were both asked about the remarks, but did not immediately respond.
