Diyar Guldogan
08 July 2025•Update: 08 July 2025
WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump hosted Netanyahu for dinner, where they discussed developments in the Middle East, including a Gaza ceasefire deal.
Asked whether his Palestinian relocation plan is still on the table, Trump said the US has "great cooperation" from surrounding countries. "So something good will happen."
Netanyahu said he thinks Trump had a "brilliant" vision.
"It's called free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” he said, adding that Gaza “shouldn't be a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice."
Trump said "I don't know" when asked if a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine is possible and referred to Netanyahu.
Netanyahu replied: "I think we can work out a peace between us and the entire Middle East with President Trump's leadership, and by working together, I think we can establish a very, very broad peace that will include all our neighbors."
Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said there is an opportunity to finally get a peace deal in the Gaza Strip.
"I'm hopeful for it very quickly," Witkoff added.
Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize
Asked about Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Trump reiterated that he is a "communist."
"He's said some really bad things about Jewish people...and I think he's going through a little bit of a honeymoon right now, but he might make it.
"He's going to behave. He'll behave. He better behave, otherwise he can have big problems, but it's a philosophy that this country is not ready for and it never will be," he added.
Separately, Netanyahu presented Trump with a letter nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In his third visit to the US within six months, Netanyahu earlier met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Blair House, the president's official guest house in Washington, DC. He also met with Witkoff.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that there are "many important" matters in the region.
"As you know, the utmost priority for the president right now in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages.
"Also, as you know, there was a ceasefire proposal that Israel supports that was sent to (the Palestinian group) Hamas, and we hope that they will agree to this proposal. We want to see all of the hostages released. That's on the top of the president's mind, so that will be discussed as well as the many other positive developments we've seen in the Middle East,” she said.
