Trump, Netanyahu Meet in DC, Talk Tariffs and Iran as White House Cancels Press Conference

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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