President Donald Trump stunned observers Friday by revealing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mentally unstable and needs to be kept “sane.”
The comments, made in a preview of an upcoming Axios interview, have fueled fresh questions about Trump’s real relationship with America’s so-called closet ally in the Middle East.
The president said, “If it weren’t for Donald Trump – and Bibi Netanyahu worked well with me, but he will tell you we’re the ones with the guns, we’re the ones with the whole deal, we’re the ones with the the B-2 bombers – if it weren’t for Donald Trump, Israel would have been eviscerated.”
Axios White House Correspondent Marc Caputo asked about Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu, with POTUS answering frankly, “It’s good, but we have to keep him a little bit sane.”
Questioned on his ability “to control Israel from attacking Lebanon,” President Trump said he believes they’ll refrain because, “They have a lot of respect for me, and they do as I say.”
“What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?” Caputo asked in another segment of the interview.
Trump responded, “There are no limits. None. I haven’t learned that lesson yet, I know there are, but you know, there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily.”