Marco Rubio insists US will 'win' Iran war after Trump 'tells Netanyahu everyone hates him'
The US President laid into the Israeli Prime Minister in an expletive-laden phone call, sources closes to the White House claim
Tensions in Washington are rising as Marco Rubio defends President Trump’s shaky diplomatic work in the Middle East, announcing that the US is "here to win".
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The Secretary of State answered questions on the ongoing conflict in back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill for the first time since the war in Iran started.
Marco Rubio set the tone for the hearings by reinforcing the Trump administration’s “America First” approach to foreign policy and the government's intentions for the war.
He announced, “I also remind everybody that the United States Government is not a charity. We are not here to play social worker. We are here to win.”
This comes after Trump lashed out at Benjamin Netanyahu in an enraged phone call over Israel’s ongoing strikes in Lebanon on Monday, US media has reported.
The furious US president reportedly chastised the Israeli Prime Minister for his strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, telling him, “Everybody hates Israel” because of his actions.
It was later revealed that a partial truce had been agreed between Israel and Hezbollah, and Trump claimed that the conversation had been “very productive”.
In a shocking twist, behind closed doors, the US President is said to have accused Netanyahu of being “f****** crazy” Axios reported – citing two anonymous US officials close to the call.
“You’re f****** 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,” Trump said, according to the source.
Another source told Axios that Trump was “p***ed”, and at one stage, yelled at the Prime Minister: “What the f*** are you doing?”
This came after Israel expanded its military operation in southern Lebanon, which resulted in many Lebanese civilians being killed in Israeli strikes, and buildings being knocked down by Israel in the interests of removing a single Hezbollah official, according to a US official.
In the tense call, in which Trump reportedly “steamrolled” the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu reportedly responded, “OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of”.
The credibility of the report has been contested by an Israeli source, who told N12 News that the claims were inaccurate.