By Janet Ekstract, ISTANBUL – On April 7, U.S. President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and the two also held a joint press conference after their meetings. Meetings focused on four major issues that included the war in Gaza, Iran and its nuclear stance, relations between Israel and Türkiye and the tariff situation between Israel and the U.S. In a joint press conference in the Oval Office, Netanyahu praised Trump as a “remarkable friend of the State of Israel” and told him that “You actually do things you say you do.” Netanyahu also praised the U.S. government for its fight against antisemitism and lauded the friendship with the U.S. Meanwhile, Trump said “We are a friend of Israel” and praised the talks as having gone well with Netanyahu announcing that on tariffs, Israel “will eliminate the trade deficit with the U.S.” Netanyahu added that “we will do it very quickly and we think it’s the right thing to do.” The Israeli prime minister also announced Israel’s goal to “eliminate the trade barriers” between his country and the U.S. As Netanyahu commented: “I’m a free trade champion and free trade has to be fair trade.”
The two leaders also said they discussed how Israel can avoid a conflict with the Turkish government as Netanyahu acknowledged: “We’ve had neighborly relations with Türkiye that have deteriorated,” referring to the situation in Syria. He added “We don’t want to see Syria used by anyone, including Türkiye, as a base for attacking Israel.” Netanyahu further stated: “Türkiye is a country that has a great relationship with the United States, the president has a relationship with the leader of Türkiye. We discussed how to avoid this conflict in a variety of ways.” He expressed his confidence that Trump could be a “great interlocuter” between Israel and Türkiye. For his part, Trump said he told Netanyahu that as long as he’s willing to be “reasonable” in discussions with Türkiye, that issues could be solved. Trump also told Netanyahu: “Any problem that you have with Turkey, I think I can solve. I mean, as long as you’re reasonable, you have to be reasonable. We have to be reasonable.” Trump added that Netanyahu could “work it out” if he has any problems with Türkiye, adding “I don’t think it will be a problem.” Trump lauded his “great relations” with Erdogan who he expressed his admiration for, calling him a “tough guy” and “very smart.”
Trump said indirect talks with Iran have already begun and that Saturday, major meetings will take place with Iranian officials on reaching a deal on nuclear. Netanyahu reiterated that, “We’re both united in the goal that Iran does not get nuclear weapons.” Netanyahu referring to a resolution on the issue said: “If it could be done diplomatically, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing.” Trump said his team is speaking with Iran “at the highest level” and that the situation is “getting to be very dangerous” and that he thinks “it will be in Iran’s best interests if they are successful” in nuclear talks. Trump cautioned that if Iran is unwilling to agree to a nuclear deal that “doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious.” Trump added, “the obvious is not something I want to be involved with or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with.” When asked about the situation in Gaza, Netanyahu said that a new deal is attempting to be worked out to get the remaining hostages out of Gaza with Trump adding “but it’s a long process.”
As to what will happen with other countries and tariff negotiations, Trump was very clear: “We’re going to get fair deals and good deals with every country and if we don’t, we’re going to have nothing to do with them and they’re not going to be able to participate in the United States.” The U.S. president when asked about whether tariffs would be permanent said: “There could be permanent tariffs and there could also be negotiations because there are things we need beyond tariffs. We need open borders,” referring to U.S. companies having more access to being competitive in China. He added that the U.S. “loses billions of dollars in trade to China,” and accused Canada and Mexico of cheating in trade and tariffs, commenting “Canada cheats,” and “Mexico cheats” without being specific as to what he meant. Trump reiterated “They will be fair deals” in tariff negotiations with allies. He said, “Japan is coming. We have a great relationship with Japan and we’re going to keep it that way,” adding he would like to see American car imports into Japan. He said there were two reasons for tariffs: “to start paying debt off with tariffs” and to “make America financially stronger.” Trump said rather than a pause on tariffs, he’s focused on negotiating with countries and said that 50 countries have approached him to do that. On his talks with Netanyahu at the White House, Trump concluded “We had a lot of good talks on a lot of things.”
