BEIRUT (AP) — President Donald Trump in an interview released Wednesday confirmed an earlier report that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy” in a Monday phone call, saying he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fighting of Hezbollah in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran.

But even as the U.S. president acknowledged the tensions, he insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu was solid and they connected, in part, because they’re both “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 president’s acknowledgement of the tense call with Netanyahu that involved expletives is a sign of the growing pressure he faces to resolve the Iran war, as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty are harming Republicans going into midterm elections and hampering global commerce.

Trump on Axios report that he told Netanyahu “you’re f*cking crazy”:

I did. I always get angry.

I was a little bit perturbed at him, constantly fighting with Lebanon….

You know, at some point I said we’re going to stop this. pic.twitter.com/4c6Tpo1GkZ

— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 3, 2026

But Trump remained noncommittal about a timeline for settling the conflict, saying the Strait of Hormuz might stay blocked through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7. He has insisted that Iran stop any efforts that could lead to a nuclear weapon and that the strait be reopened for the shipments of oil and natural gas.

“I don’t know. 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,” Trump said.

The U.S. president added that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his late father, is “involved” in peace talks for ending the war.

“They have a lot of respect for him,” Trump said in the interview with “Pod Force One.”

Trump said that Khamenei is not doing well due to injuries sustained in an airstrike, but “they say he’s giving approval because that’s the way it has been for a long, long time.” Khamenei’s father was killed as part of airstrikes when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of March.

Still, the path toward a durable ceasefire remained unclear as hostilities continued in Lebanon.