US President Donald Trump said Saturday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “get along very good” and that the Israeli premier “knows who the boss is.” Trump stated this in a brief phone interview with Axios’s Barak Ravid.
Meeting Plans and Scheduling
Trump added that Netanyahu had asked him for a meeting at the White House, and that it could take place as early as next week after the NATO summit in Turkey. An Israeli official told Ravid that the meeting “might take place the week after,” due to scheduling difficulties.
“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 reportedly confirms.
Context of the Upcoming Meeting
The upcoming meeting will be the first between the two leaders since February, when Netanyahu presented Trump with plans for their joint military operation against Iran. Trump also told Ravid that he is following the ongoing funeral ceremonies for late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israel strikes on February 28.
Trump’s Comments on Iran
Claiming that the Iranians are “begging to make a deal,” Trump says the two sides put negotiations on pause to allow for the days-long funeral to take place, during which the American president claimed neither party will attack the other.
“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 reportedly said. Adding that he was surprised to see Iranians crying at the funeral, Trump muses, “Maybe it’s fake tears.”
