Report: Netanyahu requested meeting with Trump during US visit

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested an in-person meeting with former President Donald Trump while in the US this week, Politico reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the outreach.

Netanyahu, who landed in Washington on Monday, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He is also slated to give a speech in front of Congress on Wednesday.

The sources told Politico that Netanyahu and Trump’s teams have in recent days discussed the possibility of the two leaders meeting face-to-face, potentially in Florida. Trump has yet to agree to a meeting, but also has not outright rejected the idea, they added.

One of the people said if the meeting does take place, it will likely be later in the week following Trump’s rally in North Carolina on Thursday.

Trump and Netanyahu were close during Trump’s time as President, but since leaving office, the former President has several times openly criticized Netanyahu.

In one notable incident, Trump infamously cursed Netanyahu in an interview with journalist Barak Ravid in December of 2021. The former President had taken issue with the fact that Netanyahu was one of the first leaders to congratulate Joe Biden after his election win.

"I haven’t spoken to him since," Trump said of Netanyahu. "F**k him."

This past October, Trump criticized Netanyahu in a speech in Florida over the elimination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was eliminated in a US air strike in Iraq in 2020.

In April, in an interview with TIME Magazine, Trump said that Hamas’ October 7 massacre against Israel “happened on [Netanyahu’s] watch.”

However, last week Trump shared to his Truth Social platform a video of Netanyahu condemning the assassination attempt against Trump.

Some viewed Trump’s sharing of Netanyahu’s video as a sign that the former President and Republican presidential nominee seeks to open a new chapter in relations with Netanyahu.