Trump Confirms He Called Netanyahu 'Crazy,' Says Israel Complicates Iran Peace Talks

President Donald Trump confirmed in an interview released Wednesday that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as 'crazy' during a Monday phone call, expressing frustration that Israel's ongoing fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon was hindering peace talks with Iran. Despite the tensions, Trump insisted his relationship with Netanyahu remains solid, noting they connect as 'wartime' leaders.

'We've worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot.

And I work very well with him,' Trump told The New York Post's 'Pod Force One.' The acknowledgment of the tense call, which reportedly included expletives, underscores growing pressure on Trump to resolve the Iran war as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty hurt Republicans ahead of midterm elections and disrupt global commerce. Trump remained noncommittal on a timeline, suggesting the Strait of Hormuz might remain blocked through Labor Day on September 7.

'I mean, I think it could be (closed through Labor Day), but I think it's unlikely. I think that we'll have it.

I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly,' he said. Trump added that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his late father, is involved in peace talks.

'They have a lot of respect for him,' Trump said. Khamenei's father was killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes at the end of March.

Meanwhile, hostilities continued in Lebanon. An Israeli drone strike Wednesday hit a car on a busy highway south of Beirut, hours before the second day of Lebanon-Israel talks in Washington.

The strike in Khaldeh came without warning, and it was unclear if the target was killed. Israel usually says it targets Hezbollah members.

On Monday, Israel and Lebanon reached a U.S.-brokered agreement where Israel would not strike Beirut's southern suburbs and Hezbollah would end attacks on northern Israel. The State Department reported progress during the first day of talks Tuesday.

Lebanon seeks a comprehensive ceasefire across the country, while Israel demands immediate disarmament of Hezbollah before withdrawing troops from southern Lebanon. After the Khaldeh strike, the Israeli military said it intercepted a hostile aircraft from southern Lebanon but did not immediately blame Hezbollah, which has not claimed cross-border attacks since the agreement.

Israeli strikes continued in southern Lebanon, including near Tyre and Nabatiyeh. Overnight strikes near Tyre killed four Syrians and two Palestinians.

Israel warned Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that Hezbollah members were among them, prompting the Lebanese army to deploy to the area to show no armed Hezbollah presence. The latest war began March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with Iran.

Israeli troops have pushed deeper into Lebanon over the past week. The conflict has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon and displaced 1.1 million.

At least 27 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, with two civilians killed in northern Israel. Hezbollah's use of hard-to-detect fiber-optic drones has proven deadly for the Israeli military.