World
PM’s office says he’ll fly to DC for Tuesday meet with Trump, Graham memorial service
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump on Tuesday at the White House, the premier’s office announced Friday, in what will be the leaders’ first sit-down since the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28.
Netanyahu will fly to Washington on Monday and depart on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
In addition to meeting Trump, Netanyahu’s Tuesday schedule will include attending a memorial service for the late, pro-Israel Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
The idea for a visit was first raised during a call between the two leaders on July 3.
After Graham died suddenly on July 11, Netanyahu announced that he would be flying to the US for his funeral.
He wanted to meet with Trump while in town, but the White House reportedly held off on scheduling a meeting, as Netanyahu’s popularity among both US political parties continued to nosedive.
There were also reportedly concerns among Trump’s aides that if the US decided to launch a major attack after the president met with Netanyahu, Washington would again be accused of being dragged into the conflict by Israel.
While Netanyahu aimed to meet Trump earlier this week, his office announced that his trip was put on hold due to the purported delay of Graham’s funeral to next week.
If Netanyahu ends up making the trip to Washington next week, it would suggest that a major US escalation against Iran is not in store, despite Trump’s repeated threats against Tehran.
Israel and the US carried out a multi-faceted misinformation campaign ahead of the June 2025 Israeli attack on Iran to convince Tehran that a strike on its nuclear facilities was not imminent. An element of the ruse was a video statement from Netanyahu announcing that there had been “significant progress” in hostage talks with Hamas, though foreign officials couldn’t figure out what progress Israel was speaking about.
Israel wanted Tehran to think it was still debating the matter of a potential strike with the White House. It thus announced that then-strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Chief David Barnea would take off for talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff ahead of the next round of talks between Tehran and Washington, claiming the trip was meant to “clarify Israel’s position.”
In addition, Netanyahu’s office put out a statement stressing that, despite some media reports to the contrary amid the rising regional tensions, he would not be canceling his weekend vacation in the north. And preparations for the wedding of Netanyahu’s son Avner went ahead, even though it was cancelled.
In recent weeks, US media outlets have been reporting on mounting tensions between the US and Israel, amid Israel’s opposition to the memorandum of understanding that Washington signed with Tehran in mid-June.
Netanyahu’s office has argued that the reports have been exaggerated and that his close relationship with Trump has endured.
Trump publicly expressed frustration with Netanyahu last month over what the president said was Israel’s indiscriminate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the conflict there risked upending the US-Iran MOU.
US Vice President JD Vance has been far more biting in his criticism, lashing out at far-right Israeli ministers who criticized the deal he helped negotiate, in addition to accusing Jerusalem of running an online misinformation against the MOU.
The rhetoric against Israel has toned down in recent days, though, with Trump repeatedly insisting that his relationship with Netanyahu remains strong.
