(LifeSiteNews) — In a Wednesday interview, President Donald Trump admitted he felt “perturbed” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Monday phone conversation regarding Israel’s continued aggressive military attacks in Lebanon. Despite Trump’s public indication of a ceasefire agreement, the attacks have persisted.

Trump addressed a previous Axios report claiming he had harshly criticized Netanyahu, including using strong language, like calling him “f****** crazy” and stating that “everybody hates Israel” due to the Lebanon operations. He confirmed the report’s accuracy, which appeared to indicate the White House may have intentionally leaked the story.

Speaking with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, Trump clarified, “I wouldn’t say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon. At some point, I said, ‘Bibi, we gotta stop this’ … but we’ve worked very well together.”

According to a report by The Times of Israel last year, in the period leading up to the June 2025 U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the United States and Israel conducted a deliberate deception campaign to keep Iran off balance. This involved strategically leaking information to the media that suggested disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu over whether to attack Iran, even though the two leaders were actually in full agreement.

Furthermore, Axios has reported multiple instances of similar tensions in the past between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu, even as the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza continued essentially unchanged.

After the Monday call, Trump posted multiple times on Truth Social claiming Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to halt attacks on each other. However, Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon continue unabated, with the nation’s military chief stating Wednesday that there is “no ceasefire” for IDF forces in the area.

Other media accounts reported an informal agreement that Israel would not attack the capital city of Beirut or its southern Dhiyeh suburb — areas Netanyahu had threatened on Monday — if Hezbollah refrained from attacking northern Israel. But Hezbollah has publicly rejected a “partial ceasefire,” and reports emerged of an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of Beirut along with Hezbollah drones entering northern Israeli airspace.

Thomas Massie: ‘It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel’ and ‘instant peace’

Commenting on the Axios report of Trump’s statements to Netanyahu on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted, “It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors – instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers.”

It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors – instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers. https://t.co/VzAQYbMIpO

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 2, 2026

This is not the first time Trump has announced a Lebanon ceasefire that failed to alter events on the ground. In April, he posted that Israel was “PROHIBITED” from further attacks there “by the U.S.A.,” yet strikes have continued.

Commenting on the Monday phone call during a Wednesday interview with CNBC, Netanyahu downplayed its significance, stating that the U.S. and Israel share “common goals,” yet, “sometimes, we have, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements.”

“We always find a way to work them out, and we do so as great friends. We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon, we have common action,” he said.

That afternoon, reports emerged of Israel escalating strikes in Lebanon with more than 20 committed on Wednesday alone, including the clear war crime of bombing an ambulance, killing two paramedics. At least nine were reported slain by the end of the day, including four Syrians and two Palestinians in the deadliest strike in al-Hawsh.

Israel has killed many thousands in Lebanon and Gaza

Since Israel’s invasion of Lebanon at the start of March, more than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced, more than 3,500 have been killed and over 10,600 injured, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Among the victims are hundreds of women and children along with more than 125 medical personnel. This comes despite Israel’s repeated claims that it only targets Hezbollah infrastructure, as its forces have struck health care infrastructure on at least 190 occasions.

And in Gaza, despite a so-called “ceasefire” deal that was signed last October, Israel continues its attacks on the enclave on a near daily basis. Reliable reports indicate that since this time it has killed at least 936 Palestinians in the strip, injuring 2,903.

Israel has also breached the ceasefire agreement by expanding its territorial control in Gaza, with the IDF now occupying 60% of the Strip — up from 53% at the beginning of the so-called truce — while continuing to impose aid restrictions.

Additionally, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Israel’s plan to completely ethnically cleanse the Palestinians in Gaza from their ancestorial homeland will eventually be implemented at the “right time.”

America is ‘Israeli occupied territory’

Massie, who is virtually the only Republican in Congress who consistently votes against military funding for Israel, was recently defeated in his primary by a Trump-endorsed challenger.

The contest became the most expensive House primary in American history, driven by massive spending from the pro-Israel billionaire class, including an AI deepfake advertising campaign that committed grave calumny against the popular incumbent, suggesting he was a deplorable sexual deviant.

Proposing a “silver lining” to the defeat, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Daniel McAdams explained that now “all of America — especially younger America which is the future — understands that we are Israeli occupied territory.”

RELATED:

Poll data reveals collapse in US support for Israel across party lines

Thomas Massie defeated in GOP primary, Israel lobby gave Trump-backed opponent millions

GOP Congressman Thomas Massie exposes Zionist lobby’s power over Congress

Eminent scholar breaks down Israel lobby’s role in US foreign policy as war in Gaza continues

Understanding how the Zionist lobby continues to shape US foreign policy

Former US ambassador says Trump is ‘essentially a prisoner of the Israel lobby.’ Is he right?

Israel lobby successfully gets Tulsi Gabbard not to hire Gaza war critic

Leaked audio exposes Israel lobby’s enormous power over the Trump administration

Candace Owens blasts Israel lobby, urges everyone to declare that ‘Christ is King’