U.S. President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu a war hero during an interview with prominent American conservative political commentator Mark Levin on his radio show Tuesday.
“He’s a war hero because we work together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too,” the president said, referring to the U.S. bombing operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities, which he described as “perfect” and a “total obliteration.” Later in the interview he stressed the urgency of taking action.
“By the way, I think they would have had nuclear weapons in a period of 4 weeks if we didn’t hit them ... If we didn’t do it they would probably by this time, just about this time, have a nuclear weapon and they would have used it,” said Trump.
Trump also praised his Middle East point man Steve Witkoff, who has been leading Washington’s efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.
“It’s a very hard job. I used him because he’s a very wonderful person that everybody likes and he’s a good dealmaker, and he’s done a great job,” said Trump.
The president also discussed the hostage situation, taking credit for releases since taking office again.
“So what happened is we worked hard, we got all these hostages back. I’ve had so many letters from parents and from the kids themselves and the people that got out. But I got them out, Mark ... None of these people would have been back.”
Israel was “going to have to fight like hell” against Hamas, he continued.
“When you look at it, when you look at what we’ve done and the success that we’ve had, you know they are putting Bibi through a lot. But as far as Hamas is concerned, I said two weeks ago, and I said it a long time ago, ultimately you’re going to have to fight like hell,” he said.
“Everyone’s forgotten about Oct. 7. You know, they don’t like to think about Oct. 7,” he added, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war.
