Trump cursed at Netanyahu in call over Lebanon escalation, sources say

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on April 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. P (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump cursed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a roughly 15-minute phone call on Monday, multiple sources familiar with the call told ABC News, with the president angered by Israel's escalation in Lebanon and its potential to imperil the administration's ongoing negotiations with Iran.

Trump accused Netanyahu of being ungrateful and called him "crazy," sources familiar with the call said.

At one point during the tense call, Trump asked Netanyahu, "What the f--- are you doing?"

Axios first reported on the expletive-filled call.

News emerged on Monday that Iran was threatening to call off talks over Israeli conduct in Lebanon -- where the Israel Defense Forces are engaged with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

"The Iranian negotiating team will suspend 'talks and the exchange of texts through mediators,'" the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did not confirm the report, but posted on X saying that a "ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon."

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said in a statement that Iran "considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war."

Trump brushed the warnings off, insisting he "couldn't care less."

But behind the scenes, the president told senior administration officials he wanted to speak with Netanyahu, furious that an escalation in Lebanon could derail any progress made in the talks. The president had just made edits to a proposed peace plan and had sent it to Iran for consideration.

After Monday's call, Netanyahu released a statement. "I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut," he said.

"Our position remains the same. At the same time, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon," Netanyahu said.

Monday's call was not the first time that Trump and Netanyahu have had a tense conversation. Trump's frustrations with Netanyahu have boiled over in previous instances where Israel has taken action against Iran and its proxies, but Monday's conversation further underscored the administration's distress over the potential that its ongoing negotiations with Iran are being undermined.

Following the call Monday afternoon, Trump posted on social media that talks with Iran were continuing at "a rapid pace."

Later on Monday, the president struck a much different tone with Netanyahu.

"I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!," the president posted on social media.

ABC News has contacted the White House to request comment.

ABC News' Jordana Miller contributed to this report.