President Donald Trump said Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked to meet him at the White House, a visit that could take place soon after Trump returns from the NATO summit, Axios reported.
In a brief phone interview with the outlet, Trump said the meeting could happen as early as next week.
“We get along very good,” Trump said. Referring to himself, he added: “[Netanyahu] knows who the boss is.”
If it takes place, the meeting would be the first between the two leaders since their dramatic February session in the White House Situation Room, where Netanyahu presented his plan for launching a joint war against Iran, Axios reported.
An Israeli official told Axios that next week may be too soon for the visit because Trump is expected to travel to Turkey for the NATO summit on July 7-8. “It might take place the week after,” the official said.
Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister called Trump on Friday to congratulate him on the 250th Independence Day of the United States.
“During their conversation, the Prime Minister said that the United States is a guarantor of global freedom, and that Israel greatly values the close relationship between the two nations. Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump agreed to meet soon in the United States,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The possible meeting comes as people close to Trump have become increasingly skeptical of Netanyahu in the months since the February meeting, according to Axios.
“Many of Trump's closest advisers think that Bibi was wrong about everything,” a U.S. official told the outlet.
Axios also reported that Trump lashed out at Netanyahu last month over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, calling him “crazy” during a phone call and accusing him of ingratitude.
The tensions have deepened a wider Republican split over Israel and the war. MAGA figures, including Tucker Carlson, have accused Trump of being too beholden to Netanyahu, according to Axios.
Tucker Carlson
(Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP)
Trump and Netanyahu’s foreign policy goals, security priorities and domestic political interests have increasingly diverged over the past two months, the report said.
Despite Netanyahu’s reservations, Trump signed a memorandum of understanding last month extending the ceasefire with Iran and opening new nuclear talks. He also pressed Netanyahu to restrain IDF operations in Lebanon, where fighting had become an obstacle to the Iran talks, and to sign a framework agreement requiring an initial Israeli withdrawal from the south, Axios reported.
For Netanyahu, a White House meeting would carry significant political value as he begins campaigning ahead of Israel’s October elections, where polls currently show him trailing.
Trump also told Axios that he is following the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on the first day of the war in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation.
Trump claimed Iran is “begging to make a deal,” but said both sides had agreed to pause negotiations for a week until the events surrounding Khamenei’s funeral end. In the meantime, he said, neither side will fire.
“They are all there. One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with,” Trump said.
He added that he was surprised to see Iranians crying at the funeral, saying he had thought people hated Khamenei.
“Maybe it's fake tears,” Trump said.