In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he had called the longtime Israeli leader “effing crazy” and accused him of ingratitude, paraphrasing ​a report by Axios.

“I did,” Trump told the “Pod Force One” podcast. “I wouldn’t say ​angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting ⁠with Lebanon, you know.”

Trump went on to say he and Netanyahu get along ​very well.

According to the Axios report, which cited an unidentified US official, Trump said ​to Netanyahu in a call on Monday: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

Trump said ​in the interview: “At some point, I said, Bibi, we’ve got to stop this. We’ve ​got to stop it.”

Iran has said it will not agree to a deal with the United ‌States ⁠to end the war that Trump and Netanyahu launched in late February, unless a ceasefire also covers Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia that fired across the border in support of Tehran.

Hostilities have continued despite a ​US-mediated agreement announced ​on Monday that ⁠led Israel to step back from attacking the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Iran-backed group to halt cross-border strikes.

Israeli ​drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and ​targeted a ⁠car just south of Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, while Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.

Trump bristled when asked if Netanyahu “tricked” ⁠him into ​attacking Iran, saying his critics were “the enemy”.

Trump has ​used expletives about Israel in the past, including publicly saying last year that Israel and Iran “don’t know what ​the fuck they are doing”.