LAST UPDATE | 7 Apr

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu has met Donald Trump at the White House, becoming the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

However, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after the meeting, Trump, sitting alongide Netanyahu, said he is not considering a pause on wide-ranging tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.

There had been reports that the White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Trump was considering a 90-day tariff pause.

But White House officials quickly denied the story, posting Hassett’s interview on Fox News that had been misquoted.

“We’re not looking at that,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office while sat next to Netanyahu.

“We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and there are going to be fair deals,” he added.

Trump also reiterated his threat of additional 50% duties on Chinese goods if Beijing did not retract its counter tariff plans by Tuesday.

Iran and Gaza

The US President also said he has begun “direct talks” with Iran “at almost the highest level” over its nuclear program.

“We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly.

“Maybe a deal’s going to be made, that would be great. We are meeting very importantly on Saturday, at almost the highest level,” he said.

Trump’s stunning announcement came a day after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018 during his first presidency and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu and Trump discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed.

Netanyahu said that new negotiations were in the works aimed at getting more hostages released from war-torn Gaza.

“We’re working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we’re committed to getting all the hostages out,” Netanyahu told reporters.

Trump also doubled down on his plan for the US to “control” the Gaza strip – which he described as a “great piece of real estate” – which he initially announced when Netanyahu last visited him in February.

Trump earlier greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders – both wearing dark suits, red ties and white shirts – went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.

During his last visit, Netanyahu and Trump both spoke to reporters in the Oval and then held a press conference.

The Israeli premier’s visit is his second to Trump since the US president returned to power and comes at short notice – just days after Trump slapped a 17% tariff on Israel in his “Liberation Day” announcement last week.

Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel.

Netanyahu said on his way to Washington yesterday that they would discuss “the hostages, achieving victory in Gaza, and of course the tariff regime that has also been imposed on Israel.”

“I’m the first international leader, the first foreign leader who will meet with President Trump on a matter so crucial to Israel’s economy,” he said in a video statement.

“There is a long line of leaders who want to do this. I believe this reflects the special personal relationship and the unique bond between the United States and Israel, which is so vital at this time.”

Netanyahu met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer last night soon after his arrival, according to his office.

The Israeli premier also met today with Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump told reporters yesterday that “We’re going to talk about trade, and we’re going to talk about the obvious subject.”

“There’s a lot of things going on with the Middle East right now that have to be silenced,” he added.

Attack on paramedics

Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack, and the fate of the Israeli and US hostages still held in Gaza will be a major subject of discussion.

Israel resumed intense strikes on Gaza on 18 March, and the weeks-long ceasefire with Hamas that the United States, Egypt and Qatar had brokered collapsed.

Trump has so far backed Israel to the hilt, accusing Hamas of failing to release the hostages.

The United States has also brushed off an incident in which 15 medics and rescuers were killed by Israeli forces last month in Gaza, sparking international condemnation.

Israel’s army chief today ordered a “deeper” investigation into the attack.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron said today he had organised a call to Trump with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan during a visit to Cairo, with the leaders also calling for an immediate return to the truce.

The leaders also insisted that the Palestinian Authority alone must be in charge of the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip – rejecting Trump’s plan for the US to “own” the enclave after the war.

On Iran, Trump has been pressing for “direct talks” with Tehran on a new deal to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said Tehran’s proposal for indirect negotiations was “generous, responsible and wise.”

There has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no agreement is reached.

Netanyahu arrived direct from a visit to Hungary where Prime Minister Viktor Orban pulled his country out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) because the court issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over the Gaza war.

Both leaders also spoke by phone with Trump on Thursday.

- © AFP 2025