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US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday held "productive" talks in the White House, upon the latter's visit to Washington.
In a post on X, US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Trump's consecutive meetings with Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "positive and productive" following their conclusion. "President Trump has concluded his meetings in the Oval Office with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Both meetings were positive and productive!" she wrote. https://x.com/presssec/status/2082140120346415104?s=48 Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed his discussions with US President Donald Trump as one of the finest partnerships of his tenure, centred on blocking a nuclear Iran and securing the Jewish state. In a video message shared on Instagram, Netanyahu described the bilateral talks as far more than routine diplomacy, pointed to a profound alignment between the two administrations alongside their senior national security teams. "It was a conversation with full partnership, with mutual support, and with an understanding of the shared goal to ensure that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, as well as other goals," Netanyahu said, calling it "one of the best conversations I have ever had with a President of the United States, our friend Donald Trump." He added that the talks allowed both sides to exchange ideas and tightly coordinate critical security measures for Israel's future. Though the event remained close to the press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared visuals from his meeting with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, their first such meeting since they jointly launched the war with Iran on February 28. "Prime Minister Netanyahu is meeting with President Trump in the White House", the PM's office wrote on X, issuing one photograph of the two leaders smiling and sitting side by side. https://x.com/IsraeliPM/status/2082135583531417961 In other images released by Netanyahu's office, US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy, along with the Israeli ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, and Netanyahu's national security adviser, Shmuel Ben Ezra, were also seen. The Israeli PM's office also shared images of Netanyahu and his team "preparing for the meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House." Trump, during an interview with Fox News, pushed back against reports that the Israeli PM intended to share intelligence regarding Iran's efforts to rebuild its nuclear programme, stating that the US was already monitoring Iran's nuclear activities. "I don't need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved," Trump said, adding, "I heard Bibi announce that. I said, 'Why didn't you just tell it me, why do you have to announce it to the world?'" Referring to the Pickaxe Mountain site, which is believed to be linked to Iran's nuclear activities, Trump said, "I know exactly what is going on at Pickaxe Mountain. It's not a big problem." "We took out their nuclear sites, and we'll have to take out Pickaxe Mountain if they don't make a deal," he added. The meeting comes amidst a renewed escalation in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran following the recent collapse of a ceasefire established under the MoU signed by Washington and Tehran. Israel had maintained opposition to the accord from its inception, while its military actions in Lebanon repeatedly hindered regional diplomatic initiatives. (ANI)
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