Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew ire from President Donald Trump after he prematurely congratulated Joe Biden at the very start of 2020 Election overtime, according to a writer who interviewed the 45th President twice for an upcoming book.
“F**k him,” President Trump said of Netanyahu. The 45th President made the remarks to an Axios writer, who is now writing a book about his administration’s push for peace in the middle east. President Trump accused Netanyahu of disloyalty for prematurely congratulating Joe Biden over his electoral “victory” at the commencement of 2020 election overtime.
“Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu tweeted. “I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the US and Israel.”
Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the U.S. and Israel.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) November 8, 2020
President Trump and Netanyahu had a close relationship during his first term in office, but since the former Israeli PM’s perceived betrayal, President Trump said “He was very early, like, earlier than most. I haven’t spoken to him since.”
“F**k him,” President Trump added.
“The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with… Bibi could have stayed quiet. He made a terrible mistake,” President Trump said in an interview for an upcoming book, Trump’s Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East.
President Trump portrayed their relationship as closely knit during his time in office, however, in the end President Trump ultimately felt that Netanyahu did not want peace with the Palestinians and was “using him on Iran,” according to reports.
“The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi,” President Trump said. “Not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape.”
“For Bibi Netanyahu, before the ink was even dry, to do a message, and not only a message, to do a tape to Joe Biden talking about their great, great friendship – they didn’t have a friendship, because if they did [the Obama Administration] wouldn’t have done the Iran deal,” President Trump said. “And guess what, now they’re going to do it again.”
When Netanyahu, who is now seeking to regain his seat as the Israeli PM while also battling corruption charges, was ousted from power, President Trump said “people were very angry with him when he was the first one to congratulate Biden.”
“The video was almost like he’s begging for love. And I said, ‘My, my how things change’. So, you know, I was disappointed. That hurt him badly with the people of Israel. As you know, I’m very popular in Israel. I think it hurt him very badly.”