US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Tuesday for their first in-person talks since the two countries launched a joint military campaign against Iran in late February, according to multiple reports. The closed-door meeting lasted about 90 minutes, according to a source familiar with the discussions cited by The Jerusalem Post. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described both the Trump-Netanyahu meeting and a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “positive and productive.” Netanyahu said in a video message that the conversation was “one of the best I’ve ever had with the president of the United States” and that it reflected “full partnership, mutual support, and an understanding of the common goal of ensuring that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”

Netanyahu’s visit came amid signs of strain in the US-Israel relationship. Trump had publicly criticised reports that Netanyahu intended to raise intelligence on Iran’s nuclear activities at a site known as Pickaxe Mountain, telling Fox News that whatever Iran was doing there was “not a big problem” and suggesting Netanyahu wanted to keep Washington involved. Trump acknowledged on Monday that the two leaders had “a little difference” on Iran but said they were “pretty close.” Netanyahu downplayed earlier tensions as “tactical disagreements,” while Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told AFP that the primary aim of the visit was to show “that there is no break or any kind of major disagreement between the United States and Israel.”

Beyond Iran, the leaders discussed the implementation of a US-sponsored framework agreement with Lebanon signed last month, the expansion of the Abraham Accords, and Gaza, according to a White House official cited by AP. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister also attended a private memorial dinner on Monday evening and a memorial service on Tuesday for the late senator Lindsey Graham, a strong supporter of Israel. The meeting was the eighth between Trump and Netanyahu since Trump returned to office in early 2025 and comes ahead of national elections in Israel and midterm polls in the United States later this year.

The talks took place as the Iran war has seen a recent pause in fighting, with Washington saying it wants to give negotiations a chance. Israel has not taken part in the latest round of hostilities between the United States and Iran, which flared earlier this month after an April ceasefire collapsed. Hours after the meeting, the US military said it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched by Iran at American forces stationed in the Middle East, with all incoming missiles successfully destroyed, according to AP. No further meetings between Trump and Netanyahu have been announced, but diplomatic efforts involving Lebanon and the Abraham Accords are expected to continue.