WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held their first face-to-face talks since the Iran war began behind closed doors Tuesday, leaving unanswered whether Netanyahu had pushed Trump to cut short his renewed bout of diplomacy and return to military action.
The talks at the White House ended without a press appearance or joint news conference, allowing the two leaders to avoid for now a public airing of how they plan to proceed after the Pentagon halted a 13-night U.S. bombing campaign against Iran late last week amid reports of dwindling munitions reserves.
It was Netanyahu’s first White House visit since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February, but his seventh trip to the United States since Trump returned to office last year, with six U.S. trips last year alone.
Netanyahu arrived through a side entrance away from the media and left the meeting with Trump after an hour-and-a-half, with no remarks to the media or any official readout. Karoline Leavitt, the spokesperson for the White House, said on X only that the talks were “positive and productive.”
Tuesday’s talks were initially listed as open to the White House press pool. The shift away from making any public remarks marked a departure for two leaders who often use their meetings to project unity and political strength. But the quieter format also reflected the unusual circumstances surrounding the visit.
Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who met with Trump behind closed doors immediately before the Israeli leader – were both in Washington to attend memorial services for Sen. Lindsey Graham, the influential Republican foreign-policy hawk who supported both their countries.
The talks also took place as American public support for the Iran war appears to have weakened and as pressure mounts on U.S. weapons stockpiles.
Just one in three Americans back the war against Iran, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published the day before Netanyahu’s visit, while Zelensky’s own requests for more Patriot interceptor missiles come as the Pentagon faces questions about whether it has the stockpiles for further strikes on Iran.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters in New York before the White House talks that Iran would be the main issue discussed, and that Netanyahu wanted to learn what Trump’s plans were for the war.
“There are different options,” Danon told U.N. reporters, according to the Associated Press. Israel, he added, was “prepared for all scenarios.”
“We fought shoulder-to-shoulder against Iran, and we are prepared to continue supporting the U.S. in pursuing peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Netanyahu himself adopted a deferential tone before his visit, even as he has faced intense public criticism in Israel since Iran and the United States last month agreed to a framework to end the conflict through talks.
In a weekend Fox News interview, Netanyahu acknowledged that the future of the Iran war was largely Trump’s decision and that avoiding another period of intensive fighting with Iran could be positive. But he maintained his central point that Iran’s nuclear program must ultimately be terminated, whether through diplomacy or force.
Netanyahu’s visit also came after minor Israeli concessions in Gaza and Lebanon’s south that Israeli media portrayed as an effort to ease tensions with Washington, even as his government took a harder line in the occupied West Bank, as MBN reported.
For his part, Trump sent mixed messages. He acknowledged to reporters Monday he and Netanyahu had “a little difference” on Iran but said their positions overall remained “pretty close.” Yet speaking on Fox News just hours before their White House meeting on Tuesday, he was more unhesitating.
“I don’t need Bibi to tell me that,” Trump said, appearing to chastise the Israeli leader for telling the media he would raise Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility, which Israel has identified as a key target for further strikes, with Trump. “Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.”
“We know exactly what’s going on,” Trump added. “I heard Bibi announce that, I said ‘Why didn’t you just tell it to me? Why did you have to announce it to the world?’ I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe. It’s not a big problem.”
