Trump: If it weren't for me, Israel wouldn't exist

US President Donald Trump rejected claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had manipulated him into starting a war against Iran, stressing that the decision was exclusively his.

Speaking on the "Pod Force One" show, he said he had not been under the influence of the Israeli leader.

"He manipulated me? I'm the one who started this," the 79-year-old said, adding that he had acted because "we cannot allow Iran to have nuclear weapons."

The American leader attributed these accusations to his political opponents, whom he called “Dumbocrats,” claiming that they “don’t know what they’re doing.” He also stressed that his concern about the Iranian nuclear program dates back to his first term, when the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

The US president said that the issue of Iran is directly related to Israel, arguing that this country "would probably be the first target of attacks."

"I'll tell you something, if it weren't for me, Israel wouldn't exist today," Trump declared.

The latter was also asked if he had called Netanyahu "insanely stupid" and accused him of ingratitude, as Axios previously reported.

"Yeah. I wouldn't say I was angry. I was a little concerned by his constant fighting with Lebanon," Trump said, adding that, despite the harsh words, he and Netanyahu "get along very well."

According to the Axios report, which cited an unidentified US official, Trump lost his temper with Netanyahu during a phone call on Monday and told him he was harming Israel by escalating the conflict in Lebanon. Similar reports have been published by other US and Israeli media outlets.

Referring to that conversation, Trump said that at one point he told Netanyahu, "Bibi, we have to stop this. We have to stop it." /Telegraph/