Former US President Donald Trump described the terrorist group Hezbollah as "very smart" at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach. On the other hand, he described Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as an “idiot.”

Trump learned that Biden's security people had said that northern Israel was the most vulnerable place. "I said, 'Wait a minute, Hezbollah is very smart. They're all very smart.' The press doesn't like me saying that." He said that before President Xi and China. He was scolded by the press the next day for his statements. Trump blamed Defense Secretary Gallant for the Hezbollah attacks. Israel has a defense minister who says, "I hope Hezbollah doesn't attack us from the north. And the next morning Hezbollah attacked. "If you listen to this idiot, you have to attack from the north because he says, 'That is our weak point.'"

Trump sharply criticized Israel for not participating in the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. "I will never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing." Netanyahu was still trying to “take the credit for it.” Soleimani was the commander of Iran's Quds Force for years before he was killed in an American drone strike in Iraq in 2020. Trump gave the order.

The ex-president also warned against an expansion of the war. A lot of things went wrong with the secret services in the last week, said Trump. Israel now has to sort this out itself, because it is fighting against a potentially very large power. “They may be fighting Iran,” Trump said. In an interview with Fox News, he later added that Netanyahu and Israel were not prepared for the Hamas attack. According to Trump, they wouldn't have had to be under a US President Trump.