Netanyahu arrives at White House
Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at the White House for his scheduled talks with Donald Trump this evening.
The Israeli prime minister met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this afternoon, the Associated Press reports, citing the prime minister’s office.
The visit comes as indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza continued for a second day on Monday.
Trump has increased pressure for a deal in Gaza in recent weeks and raised the possibility that a ceasefire could be declared in a matter of hours or days.
Hamas demands an Israeli withdrawal, while Netanyahu insists on Hamas disarming. The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu could give new urgency to the US ceasefire proposal, but whether it leads to a deal that ends the war is unclear.
Key events
Donald Trump said he lifted the United States’s sanctions on Syria at the request of Middle Eastern leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister added that Syria’s new leadership gives Israel a chance at a new relationship with Syria.
Donald Trump says the United States will resume weapons shipments to Ukraine.
“They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now,” he said.
The president did not add any additional details.
Last wee, the Pentagon halted shipments of US Patriot air defence systems and other precision weapons to Ukraine after concern that US stockpiles were running too low.
Trump and Netanyahu are answering questions about Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.
In response to a question about Mamdani, who has said he would enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest order if Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited New York city, Netanyahu said “I’m not concerned about that”.
Trump, who has threatened to deport Mamdani, who is a US citizen, said “I’ll get him out.”
Later Trump called Mamdani a “communist and said “he’s said some really bad things about Jewish people.”
Donald Trump passed on a question about a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, asking Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to answer instead.
“I think Palestinians should have all of the power to govern themselves, but none of the power to threaten us,” he said.
Trump says Iran has approached the White House for talks following the United State’s strike on the country’s nuclear facilities. He also compared the US’s strikes to the country’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan during World War II.
“I don’t want to say what it reminded me of but if you go back a long time ago, it reminded people of a certain other event. And Harry Truman’s picture is now in the lobby, in a nice location, not in the lobby where it should have been, but that stopped a lot of fighting, and this stopped a lot of fighting,” he said.
“I hope we’re not going to have to” strike Iran again, he added.
Donald Trump says Russia’s war in Ukraine is a “horrible thing” and that he’s “not happy” with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He added that it doesn’t matter that it’s not Americans who are being killed. “I’m disappointed frankly that President Putin hasn’t stopped,” he said.
In response to a question about the future of Gaza, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “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.”
Also at the Trump-Netanyahu dinner, Trump confirmed his plans to visit victims of the floods in Texas on Friday.
Speaking at his dinner with Donald Trump, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has sent a letter to the Nobel committee nominating Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Demonstrators gathered in Washington DC today to protest the arrival of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently meeting with Donald Trump for talks many hope will lead to a ceasefire agreement in Israel’s war with Gaza.
Here are a few images from the scenes outside the White House and Blair House, where Netanyahu met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff earlier.
Donald Trump signed two other executive orders today, amid his tariff announcements.
One directs his administration to “strictly enforce the termination of the clean electricity production and investment tax credits”, Biden-era subsidies for wind and solar projects.
The other extends a federal hiring freeze through October 15. That order, which states “no Federal civilian position that is presently vacant may be filled, and no new position may be created,” does not apply to military personnel, immigration enforcement, national security, public safety or the Executive Office of the President.
Netanyahu arrives at White House
Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at the White House for his scheduled talks with Donald Trump this evening.
The Israeli prime minister met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this afternoon, the Associated Press reports, citing the prime minister’s office.
The visit comes as indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza continued for a second day on Monday.
Trump has increased pressure for a deal in Gaza in recent weeks and raised the possibility that a ceasefire could be declared in a matter of hours or days.
Hamas demands an Israeli withdrawal, while Netanyahu insists on Hamas disarming. The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu could give new urgency to the US ceasefire proposal, but whether it leads to a deal that ends the war is unclear.
Trump signs executive order pushing tariff deadline to 1 August
Donald Trump has set new 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other countries, including Bangladesh and South Africa. The announcement was made via a post on Truth social that included letters sent to the nations’ leaders.
He also signed an executive order on Monday extending a 90-day pause for a slate of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs first introduced in April – in effect pushing back the deadline of trade talks back to 1 August.
Read the details of Trump’s most recent moves here.
The Trump administration will deport Kilmar Ábrego García if he is released from custody, a Justice Department attorney said in court this morning, according to the New York Times.
The Maryland father, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, is currently detained on smuggling charges the Trump administration filed after he was returned to the United States.
Ábrego García’s lawyers have asked the Federal District Court hearing the smuggling case to keep him in custody so that the federal government does not deport Ábrego García before the criminal case is concluded.
California has rejected the Trump administration’s guidelines on transgender athletes, education secretary Linda McMahon said in a social media post.
Since taking office in January, Donald Trump has directed his Education Department to enforce Title IX, a civil rights law preventing sex discrimination, to prevent transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity. In June, the Education Department found that California had violated civil rights law by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams.
In her post, McMahon included email screenshots showing that the California Department of Education and Interscholastic Federation had opted not to comply with the Trump administration proposal, which would have required the state to apologize to athletes who had lost competitions to trans athletes.
In a screenshot of an email, California Education Department general counsel Len Garfinkel wrote that the state “respectfully disagrees” with the Trump Administration’s analysis.
