White House Correspondent Liz Landers spoke with President Trump on the phone Wednesday morning. She asked him about Israel's ongoing strikes on Lebanon and how that impacts the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Trump says Israeli strikes on Lebanon a 'separate skirmish' not part of Iran ceasefire

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Geoff Bennett:

Let's turn now to our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, who spoke with President Trump on the phone earlier today.

So, Liz, what did the president say about Iran in your phone call?

Liz Landers:

I called him around 8:45 this morning right after that Pentagon briefing had ended. And I wanted to ask him about what Nick's report included, about the strikes that were still happening from the Israeli military on Lebanon that was ongoing this morning.

I asked the president if he had seen that there were still military strikes happening. He said yes. They, Lebanon, were not included in the deal. And I said, why not and if Lebanon should have been included as part of this cease-fire deal. And he said: "Because of Hezbollah, they were not included in the deal. That will get taken care of too. It's all right."

I went on to ask him if he was OK with the Israeli military continuing to bomb Lebanon. He reiterated: "It's part of the deal. Everyone knows that." And he said that that's a separate skirmish.

Geoff, I tried to get him to answer another question about the post that he posted yesterday on TRUTH Social about wiping out Iranian civilization, but he hung up before I was able to get an answer.

Geoff Bennett:

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was also asked about the different understandings of Lebanon during her White House press briefing this afternoon, the understandings over how Lebanon would be included in this deal or not. What did she say?

Liz Landers:

Iran seems to think that stopping the Israeli attacks on Lebanon was part of the cease-fire deal. The president, though, and both -- and also Israel have made it clear that that was not the case from their point of view.

Karoline Leavitt was asked about this in today's briefing. Here's what she told reporters:

Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:

Lebanon is not part of the cease-fire. That has been relayed to all parties involved in the cease-fire. As you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu put out a statement last night in support of the cease-fire, in support of the United States' efforts, and he's also assured the president they will continue to be a helpful partner throughout the course of the next two weeks.

Liz Landers:

Karoline was also asked in a follow-up question if the president may want to see Lebanon included in future conversations, and she said that this will continue to be discussed between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, but again reiterated it's not part of the current conversation.

Geoff Bennett:

And the president in a separate phone call with a journalist from ABC News talked about a revenue proposal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. Tell us about that.

Liz Landers:

That was earlier this morning. And ABC News' Jon Karl spoke with him briefly as well and asked the president about whether he was OK with the Iranians charging a toll on all ships that are moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

The president described the potential for this revenue sharing mechanism, telling him -- quote -- "We're thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It's a way of securing it, also securing it from lots of other people." And the president added: "It's a beautiful thing."

Geoff, a reminder that the Strait of Hormuz was open to free flow of goods and ships before this conflict started. So this is another complicating factor, of course, that Nick laid out in his full report.

Geoff Bennett:

Liz Landers, terrific reporting, as always. Thank you.

Liz Landers:

Of course.