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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hopes to meet with Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei as he confirmed lashing out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an expletive-laden phone call over Israel’s escalating conflict in Lebanon.
Speaking on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, Trump addressed the status of the 56-year-old Iranian leader, who has not been seen publicly since reportedly being wounded in US-Israeli strikes that killed his father, Ali Khamenei.
“I would like to meet him, and we probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out,” Trump said.
When asked about the cleric’s health, Trump said Khamenei was “involved, absolutely,” though he noted, “I’m not hearing he’s doing great.”
“If you believe the stories, he’s missing a lot of different parts,” Trump said. “They say he is giving approval.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that Khamenei is alive and “increasingly engaging at some level”.
The diplomatic situation remains volatile. On Wednesday, an Iranian attack on Kuwait’s airport marked a severe test of the shaky April 8 ceasefire.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack was retaliation for US strikes on an Iranian oil tanker.
Despite the violence, Trump expressed optimism regarding negotiations, stating he expects an Iran deal “fairly quickly”
“Their navy’s wiped out. Their air force is all gone after three days. Their military was virtually wiped out,” Trump said. “Now we have to make a determination — do we sign a deal or we do it the other way.”
Meanwhile, Trump acknowledged mounting friction with Netanyahu over Israel’s expanding military operations in Lebanon, which Tehran cited Monday as a direct ceasefire violation.
Confirming a recent Axios report, Trump told podcast host Miranda Devine that he called Netanyahu “f****** crazy” during a recent phone call. Axios reported Trump also told the prime minister he would be in prison without US support and that everybody hates Israel because of the ongoing conflict.
Asked if the reporting was accurate, Trump replied, “I did. I wouldn’t say angry, I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.”
“At some point, I said, ‘Bibi, we’re gonna stop this. We got to stop it,’” he added.
Following Netanyahu’s orders to attack Beirut on Monday, Iran temporarily suspended indirect negotiations with the US Trump subsequently claimed he used intermediaries to communicate with Hezbollah to halt the fighting.
Despite the outburst, Trump insisted his relationship with the Israeli leader remains strong.
“We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot,” Trump said. “I’m a wartime president. He’s a wartime prime minister.”
Defending his approach to the region and dismissing claims that Netanyahu tricked him into war, Trump added, “I’ll tell you what, if it wasn’t for me, there would be no Israel right now.”
Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2026
