WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Former President Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Mar-a-Lago Friday for their first face-to-face meeting in nearly four years.
“Let’s get a good, beautiful picture,” Trump said to Netanyahu. “Come on.”
While protesters against the Israel-Hamas war gathered outside, Netanyahu presented Trump with a picture of one of the hostages still held by Hamas. He said it came at the request of the toddler’s grandfather.
“We’ll get that taken care of,” Trump said.
Trump then criticized his likely opponent in the presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris, following her meeting with Netanyahu Thursday.
“Her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump said. “They weren’t very nice.”
“It is time for this war to end,” Harris said in solo remarks after her Netanyahu meeting.
Harris is trying to unite her own party on the U.S. response to the war.
“To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you,” she said.
Harris supports a deal that includes an initial six-week ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” she said.
Harris did not mention military assistance for Israel, which some Democrats in Congress want to cut. However, Republicans remain largely supportive of Netanyahu’s ability to conduct the war.
“What Prime Minister Netanyahu laid out for us was a reasonable path forward,” said Sen. John Cornyn, (R-Texas.).
Cornyn cautioned his colleagues of being too critical of Israel as tensions only continue to escalate in the Middle East.
“This is the most dangerous situation that I’ve seen internationally since World War II,” he said.
U.S. officials maintain a ceasefire deal is the closest it’s ever been.
