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Trump cursed at Netanyahu in call over Lebanon escalation, sources say

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on April 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. P (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump cursed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a roughly 15-minute phone call on Monday, multiple sources familiar with the call told ABC News, with the president angered by Israel's escalation in Lebanon and its potential to imperil the administration's ongoing negotiations with Iran.

Trump accused Netanyahu of being ungrateful and called him "crazy," sources familiar with the call said.

At one point during the tense call, Trump asked Netanyahu, "What the f--- are you doing?"

Axios first reported on the expletive-filled call.

News emerged on Monday that Iran was threatening to call off talks over Israeli conduct in Lebanon -- where the Israel Defense Forces are engaged with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

"The Iranian negotiating team will suspend 'talks and the exchange of texts through mediators,'" the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did not confirm the report, but posted on X saying that a "ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon."

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said in a statement that Iran "considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war."

Trump brushed the warnings off, insisting he "couldn't care less."

But behind the scenes, the president told senior administration officials he wanted to speak with Netanyahu, furious that an escalation in Lebanon could derail any progress made in the talks. The president had just made edits to a proposed peace plan and had sent it to Iran for consideration.

After Monday's call, Netanyahu released a statement. "I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut," he said.

"Our position remains the same. At the same time, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon," Netanyahu said.

Monday's call was not the first time that Trump and Netanyahu have had a tense conversation. Trump's frustrations with Netanyahu have boiled over in previous instances where Israel has taken action against Iran and its proxies, but Monday's conversation further underscored the administration's distress over the potential that its ongoing negotiations with Iran are being undermined.

Following the call Monday afternoon, Trump posted on social media that talks with Iran were continuing at "a rapid pace."

Later on Monday, the president struck a much different tone with Netanyahu.

"I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!," the president posted on social media.

ABC News has contacted the White House to request comment.

ABC News' Jordana Miller contributed to this report.

Hegseth blocks promotion of several Navy officers to 1-star rank

Pete Hegseth hosts a bilateral meeting with South Korean Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back at the Pentagon on May 11, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. This is Ahn's first official visit to the United States since taking office. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the promotions to one-star admirals of several senior Navy officers who had already been selected for promotion by a board of senior Navy admirals, three sources familiar with the move told ABC News.

Secretaries of Defense have the authority to intervene in promotion lists for reasons of cause, but it is unusual to see Hegseth now having intervened in both the Army and Navy’s most recent promotions to the one-star rank.

The Navy officers removed from the Navy’s promotion list included African Americans, women, and white males who were removed for a variety of reasons, including their participation or involvement in military Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, sources said.

The official promotion list was released by the Pentagon on May 22.

Separately, Hegseth also made efforts to get one of his senior military aides on the promotion list or to get him promoted, sources added. However, Capt. William Francis Jr., a Navy SEAL serving as Hegseth’s assistant, could not be reviewed by the promotion board because he did not meet certain criteria, such as heading a major command, according to sources.

The New York Times was first to report Hegseth’s block of the promotions and the effort to promote Capt. Francis.

Hegseth's tenure as defense secretary has been marked by his stated intent to remove policies he has framed as creating a “woke" military under previous administrations.

His critique of the military's culture comes as minorities are quickly making up more of the ranks and as women have started to expand their footprint in the senior ranks.

Though Hegseth's string of unexplained firings and promotion blocking has severely curtailed those gains for women.

The Pentagon's chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to ABC News, "As we've said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The Department will never consider the color of a service member's skin or their gender as a factor in promotions. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the War Department."

Since Hegseth became defense secretary, 19 senior generals or flag officers have been fired or sidelined, with several of them being women or minorities.

Hegseth’s intervention in the Navy promotion list is similar to his intervention in the Army’s promotion list to brigadier generals, where four colonels were removed from the list. Those four colonels included two African Americans and two women.

In brief: Harlan Coben’s ‘I Will Find You’ trailer and more

The official trailer for Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You has arrived. Netflix will release the series on June 18. The show follows an innocent father serving life in prison for the murder of his own son. He breaks out of prison after he discovers his child may still be alive. The series stars Sam Worthington, Britt Lower, Milo Ventimiglia, Logan Browning and Chi McBride ...

Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 2 has received a new teaser trailer. Starz will premiere the second season of the Outlander spinoff series on Sept. 18. The trailer shows off the continued love stories of Henry Beauchamp and Julia Beauchamp, as well as Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie. The trailer reveal came on Monday, June 1, which is also known as World Outlander Day, as it's the anniversary of the first Outlander book being published ...

Zoë Kravitz is set for Megan Park's next film. Deadline reports that Kravitz will star in the lead role in Apple's upcoming movie from director Park. The film, which is currently untitled, is also keeping its logline under wraps. Park will executive produce and direct from a script she wrote ...

Scoreboard roundup — 6/1/26

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Tigers 10, Rays 9
Marlins 7, Nationals 3
Royals 9, Reds 2
White Sox 6, Twins 9
Giants 2, Brewers 16
Rangers 2, Cardinals 1
Rockies 9, Angels 8
Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 4
Mets 2, Mariners 3

Kristin Davis, Tig Notaro cast in ‘Beach Read’ film adaptation: Report

Kristin Davis attends the 'And Just Like That…' season 3 photocall at Hotel Napoleon on May 29, 2025, in Paris, France. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) | Tig Notaro attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage via Getty Images)

Kristin Davis and Tig Notaro are joining the Emily Henry rom-com universe.

The actors have joined the cast of the film adaptation of the bestselling novel Beach Read, Deadline reports. They join Bridgerton actress Phoebe Dynevor and The White Lotus' Patrick Schwarzenegger, who are set to star in the film, as well as Andie MacDowell and Kevin Bacon. Production will begin on the picture in June.

ABC Audio has reached out to 20th Century Studios for confirmation.

Beach Read follows the character January Andrews, a romance novelist who struggles with writer's block due to her grief after the death of her father and her discovery of the secrets he kept.

January spends the summer at her father's Michigan beach house as she prepares to sell it. While there, she reconnects with Gus Everett, a fellow author and her formal college rival. The pair spark an unexpected romance after they agree to partake in a writing challenge to get them out of their respective writing ruts.

Yulin Kuang, who co-wrote the Netflix film adaptation of Henry's novel People We Meet on Vacation, will direct Beach Read for 20th Century Studios from her own script.

This is the latest adaptation of one of Henry's works, following the release of People We Meet on Vacation in January. Three of her other novels — Book Lovers, Funny Story and Happy Place — are also currently being adapted for the screen.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and 20th Century Studios.

$4K reward in Tyler child shooting case

TYLER – A 5-year-old child is currently in critical condition at a hospital in Dallas after they were shot at an apartment in Tyler on Friday night. The FBI is now offering up to $4,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect involved in the shooting. People are urged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. The Tyler-Smith County Crimestoppers is also offering up to $2,000 through June 5, which can be submitted anonymously by calling 903-597-CUFF (2833) or online at CUFF903.org.

The Tyler Police Department said the case is still under investigation.

According to the Tyler Police Department, officers responded to a reported shooting in an apartment complex at 2700 N. Grand Avenue at around 10:45 p.m. on Friday. The officers arrived at the scene and found that a five-year-old had been shot. Continue reading $4K reward in Tyler child shooting case

Reopening of roadways postponed

TYLER — As Downtown Tyler continues their improvement project, several roadways that have been closed throughout the construction were expected to reopen on Monday, but will be forced to remain closed due to delays.

“Due to a construction delay over the weekend, the streets originally scheduled to reopen on Monday, June 1, will remain closed temporarily,” the City of Tyler said. “The contractor was unable to complete the work as planned, which has delayed the final steps needed to safely reopen the area.”

According to our news partner KETK, once the roadways are reopened, drivers should be cautious due to new traffic patterns issued across downtown.

The intersection of North College Avenue and West Erwin Street was originally slated to reopen on Monday, but is now uncertain when the street will reopen as the city enters phase two of its downtown improvement project. After reopening, West Erwin Street will operate as a two-way road, allowing drivers heading north on North Broadway Avenue to turn left onto West Erwin Street. Continue reading Reopening of roadways postponed

Marshall Police arrest theft suspect

MARSHALL – A quick response and some enterprising investigative work by Marshall Police Department patrol officers led to the recovery of stolen property and the arrest of a suspect after a reported theft Friday afternoon, May 29.

At approximately 2:46 p.m., Friday, officers responded to the Wingwood Terrace area regarding the theft of a weed trimmer that had been taken from a resident’s driveway. Officers obtained surveillance footage from the victim’s security camera and were able to identify a vehicle believed connected to the theft.

While following up on the investigation, an officer began checking local pawn shops and located the suspect vehicle at one of the businesses. The suspect was found inside the pawn shop attempting to pawn the stolen weed trimmer. During the investigation, officers conducted a search of the vehicle and recovered a chainsaw believed to be stolen. Continue reading Marshall Police arrest theft suspect

What to know about horror film ‘Backrooms’ after record-breaking opening weekend

Backrooms, the psychological horror film from 20-year-old director Kane Parsons, has marked a new bright spot for the horror genre.

The film, which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass, debuted May 29. It brought in more than $81 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, off a $10 million budget, according to The Numbers, a film industry data site that tracks box office revenue.

Backrooms not only routed at the box office but made history in the process, with Parsons becoming the youngest director to helm a #1 box office film globally, A24 confirmed to ABC News this week.

The film is also the largest original horror debut in history, according to the studio.

Additionally, Obsession, a horror film starring Inde Navarrette that debuted in May, has brought in more than $104 million in the weeks since its May 15 theatrical premiere, according to The Numbers.

According to a brief synopsis from A24, Backrooms centers around a "strange doorway" that "appears in the basement of a furniture showroom" one day.

A trailer for the film shows Ejiofor's character, Clark, the furniture store owner, discovering the doorway before ending up in a large, dimly lit room with nothing but furniture piled up at the center and various voices speaking foreign languages over a fuzzy loudspeaker.

He later explains his confusion to his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline, played by Reinsve, before the trailer returns to the mysterious space, with Clark now exploring with some company. The trailer concludes with Reinsve entering the space as well.

Backrooms was written by Will Soodik, and was produced by horror filmmakers James Wan and Osgood Perkins, Arrival producer Shawn Levy and more. Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell also star in the film.

Backrooms is the debut film from director Parsons, who came to prominence via a series of wildly popular YouTube videos exploring a similar premise, most of the videos garnering millions of views apiece.

His most popular video, simply titled The Backrooms (Found Footage), has accumulated more than 81 million views since it was shared on Jan. 7, 2022.

First phase completed

TYLER – The first phase of Tyler’s Downtown Revitalization Project is now complete, as city leaders celebrated the reopening of Erwin Street and College Avenue to two-way traffic on Friday.

Construction on Erwin Street and College Avenue started in September, during which detours, barricades, and limited access made it harder for customers to reach local businesses. Rick’s manager, J. Wright Witcher, said Rick’s and neighboring businesses have experienced a 30% decrease in profit since September. However, with Erwin Street opening back, Witcher is viewing it as a silver lining due to the street’s accessibility to Rick’s.

“It’s a lot more walkable, so we’re going to have some parking spots, and it’s going to be a lot better, you’ll be able to drive through Erwin,” Witcher said.

Phase two of the project began Monday, and no parking will be allowed on the south side of West Reguson Street, while Broadway and Erwin will have a protected left light. An increase in police presence will also be in the area to help facilitate the traffic change.

Anna Kendrick to direct ‘The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo’ film for Netflix

Anna Kendrick attends the Tiffany & Co. celebration of Amanda Seyfried’s Golden Globe nomination for 'The Testament of Ann Lee' at Chateau Marmont on Jan. 9, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. (Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Searchlight)

Anna Kendrick is directing the new film The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo.

The actress and director is set to helm the film adaptation of the bestselling Taylor Jenkins Reid novel for Netflix, ABC Audio has confirmed.

Kendrick will direct from a script written by Little Fires Everywhere scribe Liz Tigelaar, with current revisions by Francesca Sloane. Reid is executive producing the film.

The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo follows "a young journalist’s long-awaited interview with Evelyn Hugo, an aging Hollywood starlet, who pulls back the curtain on her seven marriages. As she tells tales of Hollywood scandals, betrayals, and woe, she unveils shocking truths about her own life and the lives of everyone around her," according to an official description from Netflix.

At this time, none of the film's roles have been cast. Netflix says the adaptation is getting ready to enter production and that fans should stay tuned for more soon.

This marks Kendrick's second time directing a film for Netflix, after her 2023 directorial debut crime thriller Woman of the Hour.

The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo was published in 2017. Netflix first announced plans to adapt the novel for its streaming service back in March 2022.

Reid's novel Daisy Jones & The Six was previously adapted into a limited TV series for Prime Video. It released in 2023, and starred Riley Keough and Sam Claflin.

Polk County church volunteer arrested after sexual abuse allegations surface

POLK COUNTY (KETK) — After receiving multiple allegations of ongoing sexual abuse, Polk County officials have arrested a volunteer of several local churches last week. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, they received reports on May 27 from adults and minors that 40-year-old Doyle Hodge II was sexually abusing them. After opening an investigation, deputies identified five possible victims, with additional individuals continuing to come forward.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hodge to ensure the safety and well-being of the children involved. On Friday, he was taken into the Polk County Jail for sexual assault of a child and is being held on a $100,000 bond.

The investigation remains active, and additional charges are expected to be filed.

According to the sheriff’s office, Hodge was a volunteer at several of the local churches. Anyone with any additional information regarding the case or who believes they may be a victim is encouraged to contact investigator Kayla Hemperly at 936-327-6810.

Corpus Christi reconsiders building a desalination plant leaders rejected last year

CORPUS CHRISTI (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) – Corpus Christi City Council is set to discuss Tuesday whether to revive a controversial and ambitious endeavor to build a desalination plant to convert seawater into drinkable water — a project the council rejected nine months ago over high costs and environmental concerns.

A stubborn drought and rising demand has left the city strapped for water, but the coastal community is still divided on whether an expensive plant is worth the cost to taxpayers and the local ecosystem.

Desalination removes salt and other minerals from seawater or salty groundwater, but plants are expensive to build and require lots of energy to run.

The city’s water department, the mayor and some City Council members view the proposed plant, the Inner Harbor Desalination Project, as the key to a long-term, steady water supply. City Manager Peter Zanoni often calls it a “drought-proof” solution capable of producing up to 30 million gallons of drinking water a day.

If approved Tuesday, the earliest the facility would deliver water is late 2029, too far away to help the city dodge its immediate emergency needs. According to projections, the city is expecting to impose emergency water restrictions in December, when demand is expected to exceed supplies in six months, though recent rain may push restrictions back into early 2027.

Mayor Paulette Guajardo, a strong supporter of the project, said the city needs to think long-term. “At the blink of an eye, three years will be here,” she said.

The facility is estimated to cost $978.8 million, which the water department said is a “guaranteed maximum price.” That’s about 25% cheaper than previous cost estimates.

The water department has already corralled a number of contractors to jump on the plant, which would be built along the bay in Hillcrest, a historically Black neighborhood. It’s fully permitted and about 60% designed. The soonest it would deliver water, if approved Tuesday, would be late 2029.

Climbing costs played a big role in the City Council’s September decision to abandon the original plan, but critics are also concerned about where the plant’s salty leftovers would be released. Under the proposal under consideration Tuesday, millions of gallons of the brine byproduct — which can be twice as salty as seawater — would be discharged into Corpus Christi Bay, home to a variety of fish, crabs and seagrass.

The city hired a consultant, Spheros Environmental Group, to review the Inner Harbor project’s ecological impact on the bay. The report, finalized last week, concluded that the plant would not disrupt the bay’s ecosystem, Zanoni said.

That report follows a 2020 study evaluating the city’s original desalination project by Freese and Nichols, an engineering consulting firm based in Houston, which found that sea creatures living in the bay can tolerate high salt conditions, and that the proposed plant’s discharge would not surpass that threshold.

But Isabel Araiza, co-founder of the citizens group For the Greater Good, is not convinced.

“It just makes sense in a practically closed-based system, you don’t dump 54 million gallons of brine and sludge into the bay every single day and not expect that to destroy the bay,” Araiza said.

She’s asking city leaders to instead focus on forcing the region’s largest water users — oil refineries and petrochemical plants — to conserve water. Over the past decade, Corpus Christi aggressively courted large industrial facilities that require large amounts of water, promising a sufficient supply.

Now, the city’s main reservoirs have shriveled up, threatening 25% water cuts for all city customers that could begin in December or early 2027. City leaders on Tuesday also will discuss how those restrictions would be implemented, and how high surcharge rates would be, if a Level 1 emergency is triggered — the point when the city is six months away from supply falling short of demand.

Araiza said the proposed desalination plant is “not a sustainable solution economically or environmentally, it’s an industrial want,” and that “the right moral and ethical choice” is to reject it again.

But some community members view the desalination plant as the city’s last lifeline.

Nelda Martinez, who lives along the bay, pleaded with City Council members to move forward with the Inner Harbor project.

“People that you serve are worried if they’re going to have their job tomorrow,” she said during a March meeting. “There have been businesses that have shut down. There have been businesses that now are planning their exit plans. There are people and entities that have decided that they’re not going to move here.”

Ginny Cross, vice president of advocacy for United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, said she hopes city leaders move forward with a desalination plant because an evergreen water source could save businesses from threats of future surcharges. Mandatory restrictions would be especially hard on car washes and landscaping companies, she said.

“We obviously want our public officials to be good stewards of our tax dollars, but I fear that the days of plentiful, inexpensive water are gone,” Cross said. “I hate that reality for everybody, but I think we’re either going to have expensive plentiful water, or expensive scarce water. I think if we’re going to pay for it, we’d rather have lots of it.”

The city is also considering two desalination plant proposals from private companies. In March, the City Council agreed to hear a plan from Aquatech, a desalination company offering to finish building a water plant for plastics manufacturer Corpus Christi Polymers if the city agrees to purchase water from it.

City representatives also are in talks with AXE H2O, a 2-month-old Houston company that is offering to fully fund and build a desalination facility in the Coastal Bend area. Before work could begin, the city would have to commit to buying at least 50 million gallons a day for at least 30 years.

Kenneth Dees, a water resources engineer based in Fort Worth, said Corpus Christi and the rest of the state should start preparing to shell out more for water, including desalination plants, as the drought deepens and infrastructure ages.

“We’re not running out of water, we’re running out of cheap water,” Dees said.

The original article for this story appears here.

To streaming and beyond: New Taylor Swift song for ‘Toy Story 5’ is coming Friday

Taylor Swift, 'I Knew It, I Knew You' from 'Toy Story 5' (Walt Disney Records)

It's official: Taylor Swift is joining Woody, Buzz and the gang in Toy Story 5.

She's written and recorded a song for the film called "I Knew It, I Knew You." You can preorder the single now from her website; it's set to ship on or around June 19, which is when the film hits theaters. However, the singles are only available until Wednesday at 1:59 p.m. ET or while supplies last.

There are three different versions of the song available: the standard version, a piano version and an acoustic version. All are available as CD singles with different artwork. The song itself will be out on Friday.

Taylor wrote on Instagram, "You knew it! My new original song 'I Knew It, I Knew You' for Disney and @pixar’s @toystory 5 will be yours on June 5th. I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5 year old kid watching the first Toy Story movie."

She continues, "I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?"

According to a press release, the song is inspired by the journey of Toy Story character Jessie and "marks a return to Taylor's country roots." Director and screenwriter Andrew Stanton said in a statement, "[Taylor's] connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable."

As previously reported, fans first suspected Taylor was involved in the film on April 30, when she posted — and then removed — a Toy Story-coded countdown on her website.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Jury selection in murder trial

TYLER – Jury selection for the trial of the man accused of the 2023 murder of an 18-year-old Tyler woman will begin in September. Jamaurea Jermaine Britton is accused of capital murder in connection with the September 2023 beating, strangling, and stabbing death of 18-year-old Dejah Hood, according to the police.

During a hearing on Monday, the state, defense and judge discussed scheduling ahead of the trial in the 114th District Court. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 14. The jury summons for a panel of jurors will be sent out in August. The trial is set for Oct. 5. Continue reading Jury selection in murder trial