Trump Says Netanyahu 'Knows Who the Boss Is' Before WH Visit
SkimNews Take
When the requesting leader is publicly cast as the subordinate, the meeting itself becomes less about negotiation and more about visible compliance — a framing that constrains the Israeli side's room for standalone demands.
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- Trump told Axios Netanyahu asked for a White House meeting, possibly the week after Trump returns from the NATO summit in Turkey on July 7-8, though an Israeli official said next week may be too soon.
- Trump said 'We get along very good. [Netanyahu] knows who the boss is,' referring to himself in a brief phone interview Saturday.
- The meeting would be the first since a dramatic February Situation Room session, where Netanyahu presented his plan for a joint war against Iran.
- Trump said he's monitoring the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on the first day of the war in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation, and claimed the Iranians 'are begging to make a deal.'
- Trump said both sides agreed to a week-long pause from talks around Khamenei's funeral — 'One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with.'
- Trump lashed out at Netanyahu last month, calling him 'crazy' over Israel's Lebanon escalation, and a U.S. official told Axios that many of Trump's closest advisers 'think that Bibi was wrong about everything.'
- The visit comes as Netanyahu kicks off his campaign for Israel's October elections, where polls currently have him trailing, and as MAGA figures like Tucker Carlson accuse Trump of being beholden to him.
Why it matters: For Netanyahu, a White House photo-op is a campaign lifeline as he opens his bid for October elections where polls show him trailing — but the visit follows months of public friction, including Trump calling him 'crazy' over Lebanon, signing an Iran ceasefire MOU over Netanyahu's objections, and advisers privately concluding 'Bibi was wrong about everything.'
