Trump meets Zelenskyy and Netanyahu as wars crowd White House agenda
Trump held separate closed-door talks with Zelenskyy and Netanyahu as Ukraine, Iran and Graham’s funeral brought allies to Washington.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
President Trump met separately with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, putting the Trump meets Zelenskyy Netanyahu search spotlight on a tense day shaped by the war with Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The meetings were closed to reporters, according to CBS News. Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, and Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, were both in Washington to attend the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a strong backer of Ukraine and Israel.
Graham had recently returned from Ukraine before his sudden death at 71, CBS News reported. His final public remarks were made in Kyiv.
Why did Trump meet Zelenskyy and Netanyahu?
The two leaders were in Washington for Graham’s funeral, and Trump used the moment for back-to-back diplomacy at the White House. The Zelenskyy meeting centered at least in part on Ukraine’s defense needs, while no official account of the Netanyahu meeting had been released by either the White House or Israeli officials at the time CBS News reported the talks.
Zelenskyy said afterward on X that the Oval Office session was “good.” He said he thanked Trump for joint efforts to protect Ukrainian lives and support peace, and that he offered condolences over Graham’s death.
The Ukrainian leader said the discussion included licenses for Patriot interceptor production, along with “several other ideas that could help.” Patriot missile interceptors are a key part of Ukraine’s attempt to defend itself against Moscow’s attacks.
Trump and Zelenskyy had met earlier this month on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Turkey, where Trump said the United States would allow Ukraine to produce its own Patriot missiles, according to CBS News.
Zelenskyy also said he and Trump discussed diplomacy, writing that “the diplomatic process” needed to be revived. He added that their teams would set up the details for further contact.
What happened in the Netanyahu meeting?
Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump followed Zelenskyy’s and also took place behind closed doors. CBS News reported that it was the first known in-person meeting between the two men since the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran.
The Israeli prime minister’s official Hebrew-language account on X posted that Netanyahu was meeting with Trump at the White House and included a photo from the visit. The post did not describe what was discussed.
Trump has often been one of Netanyahu’s firmest supporters, but CBS News reported that he has recently shown some distance from the Israeli leader. Trump has called Netanyahu a good wartime president, while declining to say whether he should remain prime minister in the future.
Trump has also said Netanyahu needs to use a “softer touch” and “be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” according to CBS News.
In a Fox News interview Tuesday morning, Trump was asked about reports that Netanyahu intended to discuss information involving Pickaxe Mountain, an underground nuclear site in Iran. Trump pushed back, saying he did not need Netanyahu to brief him on what was happening there.
“I don’t need Bibi to tell me that,” Trump said, according to CBS News. He added that Netanyahu was “telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.”
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.