US President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war in Gaza, especially after the strike on Hamas leadership in Doha, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The American news outlet cited officials familiar with the matter who said Trump viewed the Qatar operation as reckless and damaging to peace efforts, especially because it occurred without prior US coordination. His frustration reportedly boiled over during a recent meeting with top advisers, where he made an expletive-laced comment about Netanyahu.
“He’s f***ing me,” Trump said, according to officials quoted in the report. The remark came as the president met with senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to discuss how the United States should respond.
Trump is said to believe Netanyahu is relying too heavily on military action to force Hamas’s surrender, instead of pursuing the president’s preferred option of a negotiated ceasefire.
According to the report, Trump called Netanyahu twice following the Qatar incident, first to express displeasure and later to ask whether the mission had succeeded. He also called Qatari leaders to praise their mediation efforts.
Despite the harsh words, The Wall Street Journal noted that Trump has so far avoided applying direct pressure on Israel. He has neither conditioned military aid nor issued a public rebuke, continuing to support Israel’s operations in Gaza City even as these operations complicate US-brokered diplomacy.
Growing criticism and political tension
Trump’s approach has puzzled some in Washington.
“It’s slightly baffling and counterintuitive,” said Shalom Lipner, a veteran adviser to seven Israeli prime ministers. He told The Wall Street Journal that Netanyahu’s policies have prolonged the conflict, alienated US allies, and undermined Trump’s push to expand the Abraham Accords.
This is not the first time Trump has used harsh language toward Netanyahu. The paper noted that after Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory, Trump reportedly told journalist Barak Ravid, “F*** him.”
Yet, Netanyahu has emerged largely unscathed from Trump’s outbursts. Former Israeli ambassador to the US, Itamar Rabinovich, told the paper, “The only thing that’s really working for him is Trump’s support.”
A senior Israeli official dismissed reports of a rift, describing the relationship between the two leaders as “excellent” and calling the claims “fake news.”
Sources familiar with both men told the newspaper that Trump and Netanyahu share a common outlook, viewing themselves as political outsiders battling entrenched elites.
Omer Dostri, a former Netanyahu spokesperson, said the bond between them is “very, very tight” and suggested that reports of discord are part of a calculated media strategy.
The Wall Street Journal also pointed to Netanyahu’s strong ties with Republican lawmakers and conservative US media outlets. He often appears on Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN, and regularly hosts GOP legislators visiting Israel. Gallup polling cited in the report showed that two-thirds of Republicans view Netanyahu favorably, compared with just 9 percent of Democrats.
Still, criticism of Israel’s Gaza policy is growing within the Republican Party. The paper noted that some lawmakers affiliated with the MAGA movement have accused Israel of excessive force. In July, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Israel of “genocide” and warned that the war could pull the US deeper into Middle East conflicts.
Trump, however, remains reluctant to distance himself publicly from Netanyahu, the paper added. He continues to promote the Abraham Accords as a major diplomatic achievement and is seeking a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal ahead of the 2026 election.
Netanyahu, for his part, has worked to preserve goodwill with Trump. Over the weekend, he appeared with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at a ceremony naming a seaside promenade in Bat Yam after the former president, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The outlet added that Trump only learned of the Qatar operation after it had already begun, through US military surveillance.
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, told the paper that Trump may have been most upset by the mission’s failure.
“If our operation in Doha succeeded, Trump wouldn’t have condemned it; he would have taken credit for it,” Oren said.