WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ended a tumultuous week dealing with the war in Iran and negotiations with Middle Eastern countries by describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “warrior.”
Flanked by his brand new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, the president spoke from Joint Base Andrews where he emphasized the U.S. relationship with Israel and praised Netanyahu.
“Bibi Netanyahu is a warrior, prime minister, and he should be acknowledged as that,” Trump said on Friday. “They should give him credit.”
The president’s comments come after a long week of disputes over the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States — a memorandum that caught Netanyahu by surprise.
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A U.S. official shared with reporters earlier this week that Israel had not asked for the final text of the memorandum before Trump announced it, but said that the White House had kept Netanyahu updated throughout the negotiations.
Just five days ago, Trump told Axios that Netanyahu had “no f*cking judgement” after Netanyahu ordered a strike in Beirut that could have negatively impacted the United States’ deal with Iran.
On Wednesday, during the G7 summit, the president told world leaders: “Bibi is a good man. He gets a little excited sometimes. But we have an amazing partnership. We are the big partner and he is the very small partner.”
Trump’s remarks come one day after Vice President JD Vance addressed those within Netanyahu’s circles who have recently expressed concern about the deal.
“You have seen people within Bibi’s cabinet have attacked the deal and personally attacked the President of the United States,” Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room on Thursday afternoon.
“My message to them would be twofold,” the vice president said. “Number one: Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world superpower.”
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” he noted. “And to some of these cabinet members in Israel who are attacking the president of the United States, the other thing I would say is that over the last three months, 2/3 of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars.”
“The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump,” Vance added. “And anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”
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