Donald Trump arrives for a “Rose Garden Club” dinner at the White House, Washington, D.C., May 11, 2026 (Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty)
EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump’s Failures From Iran To His “Great Ego Show”
US-Israel Wars, Day 95: Iran Fires on American Base After US Hits Military Sites
UPDATE 0652 GMT:
A dentist, his son, and his daughter have been killed by an Israeli drone attack on their car as they were returning home from Sidon in southern Lebanon.
Israel has fired artillery near the city of Nabatieh; struck the villages of Shukin and Kafr Tibnit and the town of Tallet; and attacked near Tibnin.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Foundering in his war on Iran, Donald Trump has unilaterally declared a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah — but has only fostered more confusion with the announcement.
On Monday, hours after saying that he was walking away from negotiations with Iran, Trump posted on social media that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to halt attacks. He said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had “a very good call with Hezbollah”.
Both sides agreed that “all shooting will stop”, Trump asserted.
However, Netanyahu soon undermined the declaration. He indicated that he had agreed only to postpone Israel’s planned assault on Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut which is Hezbollah’s political and administrative center.
Tonight, I spoke with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut.
This stance of ours remains unchanged.
In parallel, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah insisted that the ceasefire cover all of Lebanon and not just Beirut.
A full Israeli withdrawal “must be part of the solution. A full ceasefire, no return to what was before March 2. There is no such thing as freedom of movement”, said Fadlallah.
Linking Lebanon and Iran
Israel has been expanding its ground and aerial assault across southern Lebanon, extending its occupation. Over the weekend, it seized the strategic position of the medieval Beaufort Castle, near the city of Nabatieh.
Early Monday, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had instructed the Israeli military to strike Dahiyeh, framing it as a response to Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.
The attacks would break an informal restriction set by the Trump Administration, which has accepted the Israeli operations in southern Lebanon but called for no renewal of attacks on the Lebanese capital.
They also would challenge Iran’s demand for a ceasefire on all fronts, part of its two-stage proposal to the US for an end to the 96-day war.
Trump initially feigned that he did not care about the pause in negotiations, “I think we’ve been talking too much.” However, he then called Netanyahu to seek a climbdown over the Beirut strikes.
Contrary to his tweet, Trump did not call Hezbollah. Instead, he spoke by phone with Lebanese Ambassador Nada Maawad, saying “that he had obtained the approval of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the proposed arrangement”. The Ambassador spoke with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, who notified Hezbollah.
The Embassy said negotiations in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli officials on Tuesday and Wednesday will “discuss this progress and build upon it”.
Defying the confusion over what exactly had been agreed — and reversing his dismissal of talks in the morning — Trump told the US outlet ABC News that he expected a deal with Tehran in “the next week”.
“There was a little glitch today, but I turned that one around very quickly, as you probably noticed earlier,” he said.
Trump to Netanyahu: “You Are Fucking Crazy”
Officials portrayed Trump bullying Netanyahu into submission in the Monday call.
A US official summarized Trump’s message to the Prime Minister: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
A second official said Trump was “pissed”, yelling at Netanyahu, “What the fuck are you doing?” Sources said Trump accused Netanyahu of ingratitude.
An official said of a “steamrolled” Netanyahu: “Bibi said, ‘OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of’.”
