President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a united front as the two leaders met at Mar-a-Lago to discuss the future of Gaza and the Middle East.
Netanyahu visited privately with Trump and his advisers on Monday to discuss a series of pressure points between Israel and the United States, chief among them a peace plan that would see Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza.
But in front of the cameras, Trump downplayed their disagreements and emphasized that the United States would continue to be a reliable partner to Israel as it faces threats from Iran and Hamas.
“I don’t think it can be better,” Trump said of their relationship to reporters after Netanyahu arrived for the meeting. “We just won a big war together. If we didn’t beat Iran, you wouldn’t have had peace in the Middle East because nobody would have been able — the Arab countries, who have been fantastic, would not have been able to make a deal.”
Trump repeated that he and Netanyahu have a “great,” “extraordinary” relationship later during an informal press gathering, though he conceded that he and his counterpart do not always agree.
“It’s very important who the prime minister and president of Israel is,” he said. “Bibi’s a strong man. He can be very difficult on occasion, but you need a strong man. If you had a weak man, you wouldn’t have Israel.”
Netanyahu similarly attempted to charm Trump, noting that this was his fifth trip to the U.S. this year.
“We’ve never had a friend like President Trump in the White House,” Netanyahu said. “It’s not even close. And I think you can judge that by the, not merely by the frequency of our meetings, but by the content and the intensity. I think Israel is very blessed to have President Trump leading the United States, and I’ll say leading the free world at this time. I think it’s not merely Israel’s great fortune. I think it’s the world’s great fortune.”
Despite the friendly rhetoric, Trump and the White House have become increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu, as Trump and his aides have pressured Israel to commit more fully to the U.S.’s 20-point peace plan.
Those frustrations spilled out in public earlier this fall, before a White House-negotiated Oct. 10 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after Netanyahu ordered a strike inside Qatar, one of the chief mediators for peace negotiations.
Trump notably forced a phone call apology to Qatar when Netanyahu visited the Oval Office in September.
The second stage of the peace plan includes an international security force in Gaza that Netanyahu has resisted, given that it requires the further withdrawal of the Israeli military from the region. In particular, Israel wants to ensure that Hamas disarms following its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion.
At the same time, Israel has concerns regarding the first stage of the plan, which is underway, considering that Hamas has not returned the body of the last remaining Oct. 7 hostage held in Gaza: Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old Israel Police Special Patrol Unit volunteer from Meitar in southern Israel.
Despite those hang-ups, Trump predicted that Israel and Hamas would proceed to the second stage of his peace plan “very quickly.”
“As quickly as we can, but there has to be a disarmament; we have to disarm Hamas,” he said.
When reporters pressed Trump on whether he would push for the second stage despite Gvili’s remains not being returned, he responded that his “wonderful” family was at Mar-a-Lago.
“A beautiful family, and they’re waiting for their son. He’s the only one left, and we’re doing everything we can to get his body back,” Trump said. “I think [stage two is] going to begin pretty soon. [Netanyahu’s] looking forward to it and so am I.”
“We’re already starting certain things. We’re doing things for sanitary conditions and others,” he said. “But Gaza is a tough place. You know the expression, ‘It’s a tough neighborhood.’”
Trump also minimized the idea that Israel was slow-walking the peace process, stating in a press conference later that afternoon that the country had “lived up to the plan.”
Netanyahu, who is dealing with a corruption trial and 2026 reelection campaign at home, previewed before the meeting his hope of using the sit-down to convince Trump to adopt a tougher approach to Hamas and the terrorist organization’s supporter, Iran, amid concerns regarding its ballistic missile program.
Trump appeared to express support on Monday for Israeli strikes if diplomacy falters after the U.S. joined in striking Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities earlier this year.
“I’m not going to talk about overthrow of a regime,” he said of Iran when asked about regime change specifically. “They’ve got a lot of problems they’re in. They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is a bust. Their economy is no good. And I know that people aren’t so happy.”
Israel has also expressed concerns regarding Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, participating in the international stabilization force in Gaza, given Erdogan’s previous support of Hamas.
“I have a great relationship with President Erdogan, and we’ll be talking about it,” Trump said. “If it’s good, I think that’s good.”
The other geopolitical concern on the agenda Monday was Syria, as its new president, Ahmed al Sharaa, a former al Qaeda jihadist who helped topple his predecessor, Bashar Assad, grapples with more extremist forces in his country.
“I hope he’s going to get along with Syria because the new president of Syria is working very hard to do a good job,” Trump said of Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has taken a more skeptical view of Sharaa and launched strikes inside Syria over the summer.
“I know he’s a tough cookie,” Trump said of Sharaa. “And he’s, you know, you’re not going to get a choir boy to lead Syria, that’s the one thing I would say. So I hope they’re going to get along. Because, you know, I took, I dropped the sanctions on Syria because otherwise they wouldn’t have had a chance. We want to see Syria survive.”
Despite their disagreements, Trump and Netanyahu reiterated the strength of the two countries’ relationship, as well as his personal support for Netanyahu in his corruption trial. Trump again leaned on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu after the prime minister was indicted in 2019 for breach of trust, taking bribes, and fraud.
“He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero. How do you not give a pardon, you know?” he said. “I think it’s a very hard thing not to do it. I spoke to the president and he tells me it’s on its way.”
WHAT CAN JD VANCE DO TO STAY AHEAD OF THE PACK FOR 2028?
Herzog quickly pushed back on Trump’s claims, releasing a statement in which his office denied discussing a pardon with Trump.
During his trip, Netanyahu also met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, supplementing a busy diplomatic swing that included a Sunday phone call with tech entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk.