Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump last year that he was the “greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House."
Now, as Trump tries to finalize a deal to end the war with Iran, he's unloading on Netanyahu with rhetoric that no other American leader has dared to use publicly.
He claimed credit for Israel's existence — “without me, there would be no Israel” — and cursed his judgment in interviews. He even described him as “crazy.”
Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister spans four U.S. presidents, and he's frustrated all of them at one point or another. But none has voiced that as openly as Trump, who started the conflict in tandem with Netanyahu.
The tension comes as Trump criticizes recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which threatened to jeopardize negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Trump has been pushing for a deal as he faces political blowback at home, where the war is unpopular and has driven up gasoline prices.
“If Netanyahu gets in between something Trump really wants, and that’s out of this war, he’s prepared to use the leverage that he has,” said Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations over two decades.
An agreement is scheduled to be signed on Friday in Geneva. Speaking on Tuesday at the annual G7 summit in France, Trump said he told Netanyahu that he's been unhappy with his recent moves.
“Without the U.S., there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other President was willing to do what I did,” Trump said. “I have had a great relationship with Bibi. Now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”
There has long been a bipartisan consensus around supporting Israel in Washington, but that has frayed in recent years. Liberals have been increasingly outraged by Israel's treatment of Palestinians, especially during the war in Gaza, and conservatives have questioned the importance of longstanding American support for Israel. There are concerns about antisemitism on the left and the right.
Trump’s latest comments drew swift criticism from left-leaning groups.
“He is framing Israel’s mere existence as contingent on him,” said Halie Soifer, who leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “It’s deeply offensive to the vast majority of Jews who care about Israel’s future.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris often disagreed with Netanyahu during the war in Gaza, and sometimes they criticized him publicly. But they were more circumspect to avoid facing accusations of being anti-Israel.
Conservative, pro-Israel groups were divided on the seriousness of Trump’s public condemnation of Netanyahu.
Republican Jewish Coalition President Matt Brooks described Trump’s criticism as little more than the inevitable disagreement among family members.
Brooks dismissed that any muted criticism of Trump’s comments from his party represented a political mixed message because Trump has been reliably supportive of Israel as president.
“If Biden or Harris said something critical, it came from the position of someone who was hostile toward or didn’t have the same level of support for Israel that President Trump has,” Brooks said.
He noted the first Trump administration’s role in moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza during the president’s second term, among other acts.
Biden had criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, though Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu comes with a “tremendous reservoir of goodwill on this issue that neither Biden nor Harris ever had.”
Pro-Israel advocate Mort Klein said Trump should have kept the comments private, especially in light of his public praise over the years of authoritarian leaders in Turkey, North Korea and China.
Klein, president of the conservative Zionist Organization of America, said he worried that Trump was making the comments in public to appeal to Israel critics “because he sees that Americans have become more hostile toward Israel than they’ve ever been.”
“That worries me,” Klein said.
FILE - President Donald Trump poses for a photo with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he boards Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport, Oct. 13, 2025, near Tel Aviv, as Israel's President Isaac Herzog watches at left. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lionel Messi used the front of his white-and-blue, sweat-soaked jersey to wipe the tears from his eyes, a flood of emotions cracking his usually calm, confident demeanor after he gave Argentina an early lead in its World Cup opener against Algeria.
Then he scored again. And again.
Suddenly, any questions about Messi's hamstring injury, or whether he could help Argentina become the third team to win consecutive World Cups — even as his 39th birthday approaches next week — had been answered. With a brilliant hat trick in a 3-0 win over Les Fennecs, Messi moved into a tie with Germany's Miroslav Klose for the tournament's career scoring record.
“My tears after the first goal? I’ve had some tough days. It wasn’t related to football. And those feelings were because of that,” Messi said afterward, without elaborating. “I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me.”
Messi scored that emotional first goal in the opening minutes on a nifty feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the second off an opportunistic rebound early in the second half, and the third on a crisp strike moments before subbing out to a standing ovation from a crowd of 69,045 tilted heavily toward the three-time World Cup champions.
“At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say?” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “He’s incredible.”
His incredible trio of goals came 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut in a match against Serbia and Montenegro — he scored in that one, too — and made the pride of Rosario only the second player to score in five editions of the tournament.
Messi has 16 goals in his record six World Cup appearances overall, and it seems inevitable that Klose's record will fall in the coming weeks. The hat trick was the 61st of Messi's career, his 11th while playing in his national team colors and his first in the World Cup.
It also was the fifth straight World Cup game in which Messi has scored.
“It makes me very happy to have lived through everything that came my way. What I’m living though now is the cherry on top,” Messi said. “I’m very happy an grateful for this wonderful group. I enjoy it so much.”
Messi upstaged two of soccer's other stars — Kylian Mbappé of France and Erling Haaland of Norway — who had big games of their own on Tuesday. Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a tie for fourth on the World Cup goals list with 14, while Haaland scored twice for Norway in its 4-1 victory over Iraq.
“Messi is a madman,” Haaland said in a post on Snapchat during Argentina's game.
Messi had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami that slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup. But the eight-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, which honors global soccer's best player, had no problems in a tuneup last week with Iceland, scoring on a penalty kick while playing 20 minutes in a sharp performance.
“This is my sixth World Cup, and I still feel like I’m in good shape,” Messi said. “Fortunately, I’m doing well, and today we managed to win a tough match. It’s important to start the tournament with a victory in the first game, as that’s never easy in a World Cup.”
Messi's appearance against Algeria was the 200th of his international career, which began in 2005 at age of 18. The only players with more are Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who will play his 229th on Wednesday, and Bader al-Mutawa, who played in 202 for Kuwait.
Messi and Ronaldo are the only players to have scored in five World Cups.
“Class is permanent,” Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic said. “He's fortunate to have the privilege that the entire Argentina team works for him, and supports him, and for a number of years now — decades — he's done incredible things.”
Argentina is among four national teams making their base camps in the Kansas City metro. And much as it has the rest of the world, Messi-mania has swept through the area ever since La Albiceleste's arrival in the Heartland about two weeks ago.
On match day, thousands of fans wearing his No. 10 jersey trekked into the home of the NFL’s Chiefs on the outskirts of Kansas City, singing odes to their hero. Meanwhile, during a watch party at the downtown Power & Light District, a goat accompanied by former NFL quarterback-turned Fox broadcaster Jameis Winston came on stage wearing an Argentina jersey.
The humorous moment seemed to have foreshadowed a big night for Messi when he scored an hour later, and the argument that he's soccer’s GOAT — the greatest of all time — is becoming no argument at all with every match he plays.
“It’s an advantage to have Leo because of how he handles the group and pushes it forward. Because of who he is,” De Paul said. “He doesn’t care about individual records. He prioritizes the group, and for us it’s incredible.”
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) shoots and scores their third goal against Algeria's Riyad Mahrez (7) and Nabil Bentaleb (19) during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Argentina's Lionel Messi reacts after scoring his third goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) celebrates after scoring his second goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Argentina's Lionel Messi is congratulated by teammate Cristian Romero, left, as Rodrigo de Paul, right, watches after scoring his team's first goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Argentina's Lionel Messi, third left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) battles for the ball with Algeria's Fares Chaibi (10) during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) celebrates with Rodrigo de Paul (7) after scoring their opening goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
