Donald Trump receives Benjamin Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House on Tuesday, with the wars in Iran and Ukraine both at critical stages. Netanyahu wants Trump’s backing before an October 27 vote at home; Zelenskiy wants air defense. Trump’s ties with the two leaders point in markedly different directions.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday, with wars in Iran and Ukraine at critical stages. Relations with Zelenskiy have warmed as Ukraine has blunted Russian advances, while Netanyahu arrives amid growing White House frustration over the lack of progress toward a broader settlement in the Iran conflict.
Both men are in Washington to attend a memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican who was one of Trump’s closest allies and who frequently tried to coax him into providing more support for Ukraine’s war. After the collapse of a ceasefire in the Iran war, Trump says he has paused U.S. airstrikes to give diplomacy another chance. Still, there is no end in sight for either conflict.
Netanyahu seeks a boost before an October 27 vote
Sources familiar with the matter said Netanyahu aims to win Trump’s support for his re-election campaign ahead of an October 27 vote. A meeting that showcases what has traditionally been a close relationship could help him at home, where he is struggling in the opinion polls.
Yet the two have run hot and cold. An acrimonious phone call in June, first leaked to the media and later publicly confirmed by Trump himself, laid bare the strains between them. Flying to Michigan on Monday, Trump praised the Israeli leader to reporters on Air Force One: “Bibi’s been great”.
Trump wants Saudi Arabia in the Abraham Accords
A White House official said Trump would discuss the Iran conflict and tensions between Israel and Lebanon, whose president he hosted last week. They will also discuss the Abraham Accords, the agreements Trump brokered to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Trump wants to add Saudi Arabia and last week conditioned a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the kingdom on Riyadh signing up. Riyadh has so far rejected joining the accords without a path toward Palestinian statehood.
Zelenskiy presses for Patriot interceptors
Zelenskiy said anti-ballistic defense and strategic cooperation with the U.S. were his top priority for the meetings as he arrived in Washington. A Ukrainian source said Patriot missile interceptors rank first, because daily strikes make buying the missiles a matter of saving lives.
The two leaders will also likely discuss Trump’s promise at the NATO summit to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot interceptors. Zelenskiy spoke last week with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about renewed peace talks with Russia, and said Ukrainian and U.S. officials could meet in the United States in the coming days.
After the White House meeting, Zelenskiy is expected to go to the U.S. Capitol to meet all 100 senators. A letter to lawmakers from the Pentagon showed the administration has told Congress it will not finish spending $400 million authorized for aid to Ukraine until fiscal year 2029, even as Kyiv runs critically low on weapons it needs to fend off Russian missile attacks. Democrats and some of Trump’s fellow Republicans have criticized the Pentagon for sitting on aid that members of both parties backed last year.
Source: Investing.com
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