President Donald Trump warmly greeted “hero” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on Monday and told reporters their bond is as tight as nails — despite recent reports to the contrary.
“I don’t think it can be better,” Trump said about their relationship when asked by a reporter. “We just won a big war together.”
He said a moment later the two have a “great relationship.” His comments stand out after outlets like Axios reported the Trump administration felt Netanyahu was “slow-walking the peace process” and “fear he will resume the war with Hamas.”
Trump praised Netanyahu’s leadership during the war in Gaza. He also said the pair would “knock the hell out of Iran” if it tried to rebuild key nuclear sites, after the U.S. blew up three major facilities in June.
“He’s a wartime prime minister, he’s done a phenomenal job. He’s taken Israel through a very dangerous period of trauma,” Trump said. “Israel, with other people, might not exist right now, if you wanna know the truth. That’s a pretty big statement, but it’s true.”
And Trump reiterated his support for Netanyahu receiving a pardon for his multi-year corruption trial in Israel.
“How do you not give a pardon, you know?” Trump said while shaking his head in disbelief. “He’s a war-time prime minister who is a hero. How do you not give a pardon?”
Trump then said he talked to Israeli President Isaac Herzog — and Herzog told him the pardon is “on its way.”
The president and Netanyahu worked closely as Trump spearheaded the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal that was made in October.
Trump on Monday said “every hostage released” was because of him, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth.
“None were released in the Biden administration,” he added.
His meeting with Netanyahu on Monday comes as Trump is pushing to move to the next stage of the peace deal. That step includes Gaza being overseen by a Board of Peace that includes the following countries: Egypt, Italy, Germany, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the U.S..
Watch above via Fox News.
