Trump hints Netanyahu may visit the White House next week amid Iran and Lebanon tensions

United States President Donald Trump has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could visit the White House as soon as next week. If it goes ahead, the trip would be Netanyahu's first visit since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Trump said Netanyahu had requested the meeting, and suggested it could take place after his return from the annual NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye, on 7 and 8 July.

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The comments came during a brief telephone interview in which Trump sought to downplay any suggestion of a rupture with the Israeli leader. He said the two men still got along well and added: "He knows who the boss is." The remarks also pointed to continuing friction over policy, with Israel opposing efforts under the Trump administration to negotiate a ceasefire with Iran. Trump has also publicly criticised Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon, which he said could threaten any negotiated deal.

The possible visit would be Netanyahu's seventh trip to the United States since Trump returned to office for a second term. It would also come at a sensitive moment in the wider regional conflict, with Washington and Israel already engaged in two wars against Iran during Trump's second term, one in June 2025 and another that began on 28 February. The latest conflict has been widely denounced as an unprovoked act of aggression and a violation of international law, according to the supporting material.

The development matters because it places the leaders of the United States and Israel back in direct contact while ceasefire diplomacy remains unsettled. The United States has long been Israel's main military and diplomatic backer, and the relationship has been central to regional security calculations for decades. The current tensions also highlight the strain between public alliance management and disagreements over how to handle Iran and Lebanon.

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The background to the meeting includes a long history of close US-Israel ties, with the United States first recognising Israel in 1948 and later becoming its largest cumulative recipient of foreign assistance since World War II. A 2016 memorandum pledged $38bn in military aid over a decade, and additional assistance has continued in recent years. The supporting material also notes domestic criticism in the United States over the war against Iran, including a June 24 Quinnipiac University poll in which 60 percent of voters said the conflict was not worth it.

What remains unclear is whether the meeting will be confirmed and, if so, what agenda it will have. It is also not yet known whether the talks would produce any movement on Iran ceasefire efforts or on Israel's operations in Lebanon. The next key point to watch is whether Netanyahu travels to Washington after the NATO summit and whether the White House uses the meeting to signal any shift in policy.

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