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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.”
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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