CBS News Live
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are holding a joint news conference at the White House after a meeting there Tuesday. It is the first foreign leader visit of Mr. Trump’s second term.
Trump, Netanyahu meet in Oval Office before news conference
Seated next to Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump repeatedly said he doesn’t think Palestinians want to return to Gaza and said that he thinks Jordan, Egypt and other nations would accept Palestinians, even though they’ve said they won’t.
“They are not gonna want to go back to Gaza,” Mr. Trump said, adding that Palestinians will only “end up dying” there.
“Who would want to go back?” Mr. Trump said. “They’ve experienced nothing but death and destruction.”
The president said other “rich” nations should pay for a new home for Palestinians, although he did not expand on this suggestion.
Netanyahu largely allowed Mr. Trump to speak. One reporter asked the Israeli prime minister whether former President Joe Biden or Mr. Trump is more responsible for the hostage and ceasefire deal.
“I think President Trump added great force and powerful leadership to this effort,” Netanyahu replied.
The ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered in part by the U.S., continues to hold so far. Dual citizen Keith Siegel was the first American to be released since the implementation began last month, although other Americans have been released before.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said he would discuss “victory over Hamas” with Mr. Trump, as well as countering Iran and building on diplomatic relationships with Arab nations.
Mr. Trump told reporters on Monday that he has “no guarantees that the peace is going to hold.”
The president’s meeting with Netanyahu being his first with a foreign leader signals how the Trump White House views the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“Trump is going to continue his support for our great ally, Israel,” national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Fox News Tuesday.
Waltz said the U.S. and Israel have “more to go” in terms of returning Americans held hostage. And the national security adviser said the U.S. has to think “realistically” about rebuilding Gaza.
“I would push back on the characterization of cleaning out Gaza,” Waltz told reporters Tuesday. “I think President Trump is looking at this from a humanitarian standpoint. You have these people that are sitting with literally thousands of unexploded ordnance and piles of rubble. You know, at some point we have to look realistically. How do you rebuild Gaza? What does that look like? What’s the timeline? I think we, a lot of people, were looking at very unrealistic timelines. We’re talking 10, 15, years, not the five years. And so that is what, that’s what we have to work through. That’s part of what we’ll work through with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Netanyahu last met with Mr. Trump in July at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, while Mr. Trump was still a presidential candidate.
Netanyahu congratulated former President Joe Biden on his win in 2020, something that Mr. Trump long held against him. But the two have worked to repair the relationship in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
One reporter noted their relationship has had its ups and downs.
“I think it’s mostly ups,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday.
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
