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“To be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this,” Trump said.
By United with Israel Staff
President Donald Trump’s announcement Sunday night that the United States and Iran had finalized a landmark agreement was accompanied by a remarkably public display of frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he suggested had nearly derailed the deal in its final hours.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, declaring the agreement finished and announcing the immediate removal of the U.S. naval blockade of Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The announcement capped weeks of military escalation and diplomatic maneuvering that brought the region to the brink of a wider conflict before ultimately producing an agreement that Trump described as a historic breakthrough.
But according to Trump’s account of the final negotiations, the deal nearly unraveled on Sunday after Israel carried out a strike on a Hezbollah command center in Beirut’s Dahiyah district.
The operation came in response to days of Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel and marked the first implementation of Jerusalem’s newly announced policy authorizing strikes in Beirut following attacks launched from Lebanon.
According to The New York Times, the agreement appeared at risk after the Beirut strike triggered a flurry of emergency diplomacy led by Qatar. Negotiators ultimately succeeded in calming tensions, allowing the agreement to come together later that night.
Trump made clear that he was unhappy with Israel’s actions.
“He’s a very difficult guy,” Trump said of Netanyahu.
The president then suggested that Israel should be grateful for the agreement his administration had secured.
“To be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this,” Trump said. “Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours.”
The comments came after Trump publicly criticized the Beirut strike earlier in the day, calling Hezbollah’s attack “very small and meaningless” and warning that further escalation could jeopardize an agreement that was nearing completion.
The unusually sharp remarks underscore what appears to have been a significant disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem during the final phase of negotiations.
While the full details of the agreement have not yet been released, several elements are likely to draw close scrutiny in Israel.
Among them is the future of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Trump indicated that Iran insisted on maintaining some level of enrichment capability, while the agreement would impose long-term restrictions designed to ensure enrichment remains limited to civilian purposes.
Another issue involves Lebanon. Reports from regional media have suggested that understandings related to the Lebanon front were discussed as part of the broader diplomatic package, though the precise terms remain unclear.
Trump’s public criticism suggested that the White House viewed preserving the agreement as the overriding priority during its final hours.
With the deal now officially announced, attention is likely to shift from the negotiations themselves to the details of the agreement—and to whether Sunday’s public tensions signal a broader disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem over how Iran should be handled going forward.
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