Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the White House Monday, his second visit since President Donald Trump was reelected.
Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit Trump in person to discuss tariffs after the president’s announcement last week instituting broad tariffs on many of the United States’ trading partners. In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said he would use the visit to seek relief from the tariffs.
Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday and was expected to depart on Monday night after his meetings.
Trump and Netanyahu were originally set to hold a formal press conference after their meeting, but instead the pair answered questions from reporters in the Oval Office.
The prime minister’s first meeting upon arrival in Washington D.C. was with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer. The discussion focused on the recent 17% tariff imposed on Israeli goods.
Trump and Netanyahu’s comments on the tariffs
Netanyahu said that Israel will get rid of its trade barriers to the U.S. by eliminating the trade deficit and quickly getting rid of the tariffs.
“Free trade has to be fair trade,” the prime minister said. Trump thanked Netanyahu for those comments.
When asked about a potential pause on his broad tariff plan, Trump said “We’re not looking at that.”
“We’re going to get fair deals and good deals with everybody. And if we don’t, we’re going to have nothing to do with them. They’re not going to be allowed to participate in the United States,” the president said.
When asked if the tariffs would drive U.S. trading partners towards China the president said “I’m not worried, they don’t want to be in the hands of the Chinese.”
Trump addressed confusion over whether the tariffs are meant to be permanent or a negotiating tactic.
“Both can be true,” he said. “There can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations, there are things we need beyond tariffs.”
He also added that “virtually every country wants to negotiate,” after the announcement of tariffs.
As Trump spoke about his tariff policies he painted a rosy picture of the current economy saying that the price of “everything is down at levels that nobody ever thought possible.”
According to The New York Times, though inflation eased more than expected in February, prices were still up 2.8% from a year earlier.
Talks between the U.S. and Iran are underway
During the news conference with Netanyahu, Trump said that direct talks between the U.S. and Iran were underway over Iran’s nuclear program.
The president said that a “very big meeting” would be taking place on Saturday.
He said that if the talks don’t go well then Iran will be in “great danger.” Trump said he was optimistic that the talks would convince Iran to abandon its nuclear program, which the government insists is for peaceful purposes.
“I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” Trump said.
Previously, Iran rejected the president’s offer of direct negotiations about the nuclear program, engaging instead in indirect talks.
Trump also spoke on the United States’ recent military actions against Houthis. “There’s no military like our military,” he said.
Trump revisits plan for the Gaza strip
Trump spoke again about his plans to bring peace to Gaza and to move Palestinians to other countries. He added that he sees the area as an incredible piece of real estate.
Netanyahu said that one of the issues with Gaza is that the people there couldn’t leave, they were locked in.
“What is wrong with giving people a choice,” the prime minister said.
He added that it is going to take years to rebuild Gaza.
Trump said that currently Gaza is a “dangerous death trap” but he wants to make it into a “freedom zone.”
The president also spoke about wanting to get back the hostages from Hamas. “He is working very very hard on the hostages,” Trump said about Netanyahu.
Trump added that they are working towards another potential ceasefire with Hamas.