[Video] Netanyahu at the White House: Trump Announces Direct U.S. Talks With Iran Set for Saturday
At the White House in Washington, D.C., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Trump. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office before the meeting, Trump announced that the United States is holding direct talks with Iran, that the talks have started, and that a "very big meeting" will take place on Saturday. The White House released the full video of the bilateral meeting.
Trump said the United States is dealing with Iran directly, not through surrogates, and that Saturday's meeting will be at almost the highest level. He said everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing "the obvious," which neither the United States nor Israel wants to be involved with if it can be avoided, while warning that the situation is getting to be "very dangerous territory" and that Iran would be in great danger if the talks are not successful. Netanyahu, speaking at the same appearance, said the two sides are united in the goal that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, and that a full diplomatic resolution on the Libya model would be a good thing, but that Iran must not have nuclear weapons whatever happens.
Trade was the other main subject. Netanyahu said he had told Trump that Israel will eliminate its trade deficit with the United States, intends to do it very quickly, and will also eliminate tariffs and a variety of unnecessary trade barriers; he had spoken with Commerce Secretary Lutnick the day before about how to effect this quickly, and said Israel can serve as a model for many countries. In the question-and-answer session Trump also addressed China, saying that if China does not remove its 34 percent retaliatory tariff by noon the next day, the United States will impose an additional 50 percent tariff on top of the tariffs already imposed.
On the hostages and Gaza, Netanyahu said U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had helped secure a deal that got 25 hostages out, that work is under way on another deal, and that Israel is committed to getting all the hostages out while eliminating Hamas's rule in Gaza and enabling the people of Gaza to freely choose whether to stay or go. Trump said he would like to see the war in Gaza stopped and believes it will stop at some point in the not-too-distant future, with the hostages the immediate problem.
Trump also said during the exchange that the United States has essentially approved a military budget of about $1 trillion, which he called the biggest ever approved for the military. Netanyahu, visiting again at Trump's invitation, opened by thanking the president and calling him a great champion of the U.S.-Israel alliance. (Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2025年4月7日，特朗普与到访的以色列总理内塔尼亚胡及美方高级官员在白宫椭圆办公室合影。图：白宫官方照片（公共领域），via Wikimedia Commons / Photo: President Trump with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior U.S. officials in the Oval Office on April 7, 2025. Photo: Official White House photo (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
