Trump credits himself for convincing Netanyahu to call off Beirut raid

President Donald Trump said he persuaded Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off a planned strike on Beirut, claiming the Israeli leader agreed to halt the operation after a phone conversation on Monday (1).

Trump announced Truth Social amid reports that his conversation with Netanyahu was tense and included sharp exchanges between the two leaders.

"I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today (Monday), asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi," Trump wrote, referring to the Israeli prime minister by his widely used nickname.

The call came after rising tensions in the region. Iran had threatened to end negotiations with the United States over Israel's attacks on Lebanon. Netanyahu had previously warned that Israel would target "terror targets" in Beirut if Hezbollah continued attacking Israel.

Trump also said he held talks with representatives of Hezbollah and claimed they agreed to stop attacks on Israel.

"I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let's see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY," he said.

According to a report by Axios, the conversation between Trump and Netanyahu became heated. The report cited an unnamed US official as saying Trump sharply criticized Netanyahu during the call.

"You're f•••ing crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your a••. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this," Axios quoted the official as saying.

Another source told Axios that Trump was "pissed" and at one point shouted at Netanyahu, asking, "What the f••• are you doing?" A separate official said Trump had "steamrolled" Netanyahu during the discussion.

According to the report, Netanyahu eventually responded by saying, "OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of."

Earlier, Trump told NBC News that he had not been informed in advance about the decision to suspend negotiations. However, he said he was not concerned if the talks ended.

"It's an appropriate thing to say, because they're better negotiators than they are fighters," Trump said during a brief phone interview.

"But they haven't informed us of that. It doesn't mean we're going to go and start dropping bombs all over there," he added.

The developments come as tensions continue across the region. The US military and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend and into Monday (1), putting pressure on a truce that has been in place for nearly two months.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued its military offensive in Lebanon. Over the weekend, Israeli forces carried out their deepest incursion into the country in 26 years.