Trump hosts Netanyahu, Zelensky as wars hit critical stage
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- Trump hosted both Netanyahu and Zelensky on Tuesday, with both attending a memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican advocate for Israel and Ukraine inside Trump's circle.
- Zelensky said anti-ballistic defence and strategic cooperation with the U.S. are his "number-one priority" and is expected to press for air defence capabilities, completing a drone deal, and a Patriot interceptor production license Trump promised at the NATO summit.
- Trump-Zelensky relations have warmed from repeated early-term clashes as Ukraine blunted Russian advances and intensified attacks on Russia's oil industry; Zelensky is also set to meet all 100 U.S. senators after the White House session.
- Netanyahu arrives amid White House frustration over the lack of a broader Iran settlement, following an acrimonious June phone call and Trump's interventions to rein in Israeli strikes on Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
- Netanyahu is seeking a visible show of support from Trump ahead of an Oct. 27 Israeli election where he is struggling in opinion polls, making the Washington visit partly an electoral play.
- Trump said he paused U.S. air strikes on Iran after the ceasefire collapsed to give diplomacy another chance, and confirmed he will discuss the uninspected Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site — a fortified facility buried deep underground near Tehran's main nuclear complex — with Netanyahu.
- Trump conditioned a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia last week on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, a condition Saudi Arabia has rejected without a path toward Palestinian statehood.
Why it matters: The two simultaneous visits expose how Trump's Middle East and Ukraine policies now rest on personal ties with two leaders under domestic political pressure — Netanyahu trailing in polls before an Oct. 27 vote, Zelensky buoyed by battlefield gains. The Saudi nuclear deal tethered to the Abraham Accords gives Riyadh leverage: it has publicly rejected the link absent a Palestinian statehood path, keeping that diplomatic track frozen even as Trump pushes to expand it.
