U.S. President Donald Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and reiterated his "preference" that "negotiations continue" with Iran over its nuclear plan with the aim of reaching an agreement. "I just met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and several of his representatives," Trump stated in a post on Truth Social accessed by the Argentine News Agency. "Let's hope this time they are more reasonable and responsible," he added. Trump said they discussed "Gaza and the Middle East region in general. There is REAL PEACE in the Middle East." Netanyahu's press office, in turn, issued a statement saying that the two parties "discussed negotiations with Iran, Gaza, and regional events." "The Prime Minister emphasized Israel's security needs in the context of the negotiations, and both sides agreed to maintain close coordination and continuous communication," the office succinctly states. The statement does not indicate that any conclusion was reached on Iran, consistent with Trump's post shortly after the meeting ended. The meeting, which lasted about three hours, was also attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; the president's senior advisor, Jared Kushner; and Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Previously, Netanyahu signed the document to join the Peace Council created by Trump to manage the ceasefire in Gaza, after initial criticism of the body over its composition designed by Washington. "Before his meeting with President Trump at the White House, Prime Minister Netanyahu registered, in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as a member of the Peace Council," the Israeli Prime Minister's office reported. "Nothing definitive was reached, except that I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to determine if an agreement can be reached." He warned that otherwise "we will simply have to see what the result is" and recalled that "last time, Iran decided it was better not to reach an agreement, and they got a midnight strike; that did not work for them," referring to the war that included attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces on Iran.
