CNN
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Former President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, the first such meeting between the two since Trump left the White House more than three years ago.
The meeting, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, was at Netanyahu’s request, a source familiar with the planning told CNN. It follows the prime minister’s address to Congress and his meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. After her meeting with the prime minister, Harris, who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee, offered a strong stance on civilian suffering and an end to the war.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Friday he hoped Harris’ comments would not make it harder to reach a ceasefire agreement.
“The more Hamas understands that there is no divide between Israel and the United States, the sooner I think an agreement will come,” Netanyahu told reporters during his meeting with Trump, “and I hope that this statement doesn’t change that.”
Trump said Harris’ comments to reporters after her meeting with Netanyahu were “disrespectful to Israel.”
“I think what she said was disrespectful,” Trump told CNN’s Kristen Holmes on Friday. “It wasn’t a very nice thing to say about Israel. I have no idea how Jews could vote for her, but that’s up to them.”
Speaking ahead of Netanyahu’s remarks, Harris’ office denied initial suggestions from Israeli officials on Friday that the vice president’s comments could make it harder to reach a ceasefire agreement.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” a Harris aide told CNN after the Times of Israel quoted a senior Israeli government official as saying.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris conveyed the same message in their private meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the time has come to conclude a ceasefire and hostage agreement,” a senior aide told reporters, adding that Harris’ meeting with Netanyahu was “serious and collaborative.”
Trump continued to blast Harris during a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday night as he detailed his meeting with Netanyahu.
“She doesn’t like Jews. She doesn’t like Israel. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it always will be,” Trump said. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.
The former president said that during the meeting he asked Netanyahu how Jews could vote for the Democrats.
“I said, ‘How can someone who loves Jews and loves Israel vote, how can they think like this, how can they vote for a party like this? How can they vote for the Democrats? How can they vote for these horrible, horrible people?’
“We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s mostly a habit,” Trump said.
Friday will be an opportunity for President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu to reset relations at a critical moment both in Israel’s war with Hamas and in the 2024 election cycle.
Trump, who often describes himself as the most pro-Israel president in modern history, once boasted of his close personal relationship with Netanyahu, but relations between the two have deteriorated in recent years and Trump has hesitated to speak with Netanyahu amid the ongoing conflict.
Shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel, President Trump criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war, telling Fox News at the time that the prime minister and the country as a whole were “unprepared.”
Part of Trump’s continuing criticism in the months since stems from his complicated relationship with Netanyahu, which a former Trump administration official described as a “love-hate relationship,” adding that the two leaders have seen dramatic ups and downs in recent years.
Under Trump, he implemented a number of policies favorable to Israel, including moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and supporting several Middle Eastern and North African countries in normalizing relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu called Trump the greatest friend Israel has ever had and praised him for his “unequivocal” support for Israel during his tenure as commander in chief.
But relations between the two men soured after Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his victory in the 2020 presidential election, a move that infuriated the former president, who he saw as disingenuous. “Fuck the guy,” Trump told Axios at the time.
Trump also alleged that Netanyahu betrayed him in the final months of his presidency, refusing to allow Israel to join the last-minute airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Netanyahu “let us down,” Trump said at an October 2023 rally.
Meanwhile, two sources close to Trump said they were aware of Netanyahu’s attempts to reach out to Trump in recent months, including trying to contact him through informal channels.
Also in March, Trump allies led by Keith Kellogg, former national security adviser to Trump and who served in the Trump administration, visited Israel to discuss the current conflict in Gaza, though the Trump campaign said it only learned of these meetings after the fact.
Many Israelis have speculated that Trump will give Netanyahu free rein to use further force in Gaza. Trump has said that Israel “must finish what it started,” “it must finish quickly,” and that the United States “must let Israel finish the job.”
A senior Trump campaign adviser told CNN that Trump’s willingness to meet with Netanyahu despite tensions shows he is “willing to put aside personal or political differences and develop or re-engage with him in order to build a working relationship.”
“This marks an evolution of how Trump will operate in his second term,” the adviser added.
A source familiar with the meeting said Trump has not yet decided on an agenda or overall message he wants to deliver. But he has repeatedly said he would seek a quick end to the Middle East conflicts if elected president in November, though he has not offered specifics on how to do so. Instead, he has argued that the wars must end quickly because the country is “losing the PR war.”
Asked about the meeting in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said, “I want him to get it done quickly. It has to be done quickly, because they’re taking a huge hit from this publicity. And, you know, Israel is not very good at public relations.”
He also argued in the interview that the October 7 attacks would not have happened if he were president, a claim he has repeated frequently during his election campaign.
Arab American and Jewish Trump supporters spectate
Arab Americans who have voiced support for Trump will also be watching Friday’s meeting closely, they told CNN. They were “saddened and troubled” when Trump derogatorily referred to Biden as a Palestinian during last month’s debate, said Bishara Baba, an Arizona resident who has worked to rally the Arab American community around Trump after he drew ire over Biden’s approach to Israel’s war with Hamas.
But Barb continues to support Trump despite his derogatory comments about Palestinians last month. She noted that ahead of Friday’s meeting, Trump shared on his social media platforms a recent letter from Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, sent after the assassination attempt on the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
“I look forward to meeting Bibi Netanyahu on Friday and looking even more forward to peace in the Middle East!” Trump posted along with the letter on Truth Social.
Baba said Trump was “trying to strike a balance” in going into the summit by posting his meeting with Abbas, adding that he hopes Trump will come out of his meeting with Netanyahu calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Trump’s Jewish supporters are hoping the former president will ask Netanyahu what it takes to win the ongoing war, explained Lee Zeldin, a Jewish Republican and Trump supporter.
“The most important question at the negotiating table is to ask the prime minister what he needs to win. What does Israel not already have?” Zeldin, the former congressman, said. “A discussion about ensuring victory and pursuing a lasting peace is the most important fundamental starting point in my opinion.”
Zeldin added that Jewish Americans will be watching the meeting closely because they expect Trump to “pick up where he left off” in terms of implementing policies that support Israel if he wins the November election.
Trump finds himself in a unique position, given that he took office just three years ago and has longstanding relationships with many of the foreign leaders who now visit him at home.
Trump has met with a string of foreign leaders in recent months, including hosting Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and British Foreign Secretary Cameron at Mar-a-Lago, and dining with Polish President Duda and former Prime Minister Aso Taro at Trump Tower in New York during the hush money trial. He has also spoken by phone with several world leaders, including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is currently working with the U.S. to normalize ties with Israel.
Trump’s advisers argued the meeting reflected the true state of the former president’s approval ratings, adding that many foreign leaders want to ensure strong ties with him if he wins the November election.
“This may signal that they see Trump as the best person to be the next president and want a head start on building a real relationship with him,” the adviser said.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kit Maher contributed to this report.
