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Trump, Netanyahu Meet in DC, Talk Tariffs and Iran as White House Cancels Press Conference
US President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, April 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
The White House on Monday canceled a joint press conference planned for the afternoon with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Washington, DC, to discuss a range of issues including the Trump administration’s new global tariff offensive.
There was no explanation for the surprise decision to nix the press conference moments before Netanyahu’s arrival. However, the two leaders took questions in the Oval Office from a smaller group of reporters.
During their second in-person meeting since Trump’s inauguration in January, Trump and Netanyahu discussed Iran’s nuclear program and the new US tariffs placed on the Jewish state, among other issues.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran” beginning on Saturday,” Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with Netanyahu.
“We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump said, adding that Iran is “going to be in great danger” if the direct talks don’t go well.
Trump recently threatened to bomb Iran if the regime does not agree to a deal to curb its nuclear program, which the US and Israel believe is ultimately meant to build nuclear weapons. Iran claims its nuclear activities are meant for peaceful, civilian purposes.
However, the primary topic of conversation on Monday was Trump’s newly unveiled tariff policy.
“I can tell you that I said to the president, a very simple thing — we will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States,” Netanyahu said. “We intend to do it very quickly. We think it’s the right thing to do. And we’re also going to eliminate trade barriers.”
The US announced last week that it will impose 17 percent tariffs on goods imported from Israel under a major new trade initiative that Trump announced. As part of Trump’s sweeping set of tariffs, the US will impose a 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports to the US and higher duties on some countries with which it has larger trade deficits.
Washington decided on the 17-percent figure for Israel because it is half of the 33 percent tariffs that the White House says the Jewish state has put in place for some American products. Israel and the United States — the Jewish state’s largest trading partner — completed $34 billion in bilateral trade in 2024. Of that, over $22 billion came from exports from Israel to the US, including diamonds, medications, and electronic devices.
While unveiling the slate of new tariffs on international trade partners, the White House cited a “lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships” that is “indicated by large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits.”
Trump’s announcement came one day after Israel removed all tariffs on US goods. Israeli officials had hoped that dropping the tariffs would prevent the White House from placing its own tariffs on the Jewish state. Jerusalem will reportedly launch efforts to convince the Trump administration to reverse its decision.
The short-notice meeting between Trump and Netanyahu appears to be part of such an effort.
While leaving Hungary on Sunday, Netanyahu revealed that he will be “the first international leader, the first foreign leader” to hold a discussion with Trump regarding the tariffs and that the planned meeting is reflective of “the special personal relationship and the special bond between the United States and Israel, which is so vital at this time.”
“I believe this reflects the special personal relationship and the special bond between the United States and Israel, which is so vital at this time,” Netanyahu said.
Following his arrival on Sunday, Netanyahu met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the two masterminds behind the massive tariff plan that has plunged stock markets throughout the world. Trump’s proposed 17 percent tax on Israeli imports sparked frustrations within the Jewish state, with critics arguing that the proposal has the potential to destabilize the country’s economy.
In a post on X/Twitter, Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister’s meeting with Lutnick and Greer was “warm, friendly, and productive.”
The post Trump, Netanyahu Meet in DC, Talk Tariffs and Iran as White House Cancels Press Conference first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.