The stage — and the cage — were set Sunday at the White House as President Trump prepared to mark his 80th birthday with a long-planned night of UFC combat, and an announcement of a long-awaited deal with Iran to extend a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Hours before it was to be signed, however, Israeli jets struck Lebanon's capital Beirut, killing at least three people."This morning's attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran," Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social.His call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soon after was less diplomatic."What the f*** are you doing?" he asked his close ally, according to Fox News' Trey Yingst. "Why did Bibi have to do a f*****g attack?" the President said to Axios shortly after. "I was so pissed off. I let him know. He has no f*****g judgement."It was a remarkable exchange between world leaders whose relationship has vacillated dramatically, and often publicly, over the course of many years.
"Who the f*** does he think he is?"The answer to President Trump's question about why Netanyahu ordered the Beirut attack cuts to the heart of how the more than three-and-a-half month Iran war has driven a wedge between the two leaders.Mr. Trump campaigned on a promise to end "forever wars." He told Americans the joint U.S.-Israeli war with Iran would last a maximum of six weeks (among many and varying estimates), and he suggested the objective was a Venezuela-style operation. It quickly became clear that such a brief foray was not in the cards, however. More recently, with midterms looming in November and Americans' views on both the war and Mr. Trump becoming less favorable, he has appeared keen to extract the U.S. and get the Strait of Hormuz reopened to ease global gas and oil prices.
