Trump meets Zelenskyy, Netanyahu at White House

President Donald Trump held separate closed-door meetings Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing two wartime leaders to the White House as Ukraine seeks stronger air defenses and Israel navigates strains with Washington over Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.

Zelenskyy described his Oval Office meeting as “good,” saying the talks focused in part on licensing arrangements that would allow Ukraine to produce Patriot air defense interceptors. The missiles are critical to Ukraine’s efforts to defend against Russian aerial attacks.

“A good meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Thank you for everything we do together to protect the lives of Ukrainians and advance peace.”

He said he began by offering condolences for Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly at 71 after returning from a trip to Ukraine. Graham, a strong supporter of both Ukraine and Israel, had last spoken publicly in Kyiv. “He was a true friend of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said he and Trump also discussed diplomacy. “It’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated,” he said. “Our teams will arrange the details of their further communication. I am grateful to the United States for its firm support.”

The Ukrainian president was in the United States for Graham’s funeral service. Al Jazeera reported that he also planned separate talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and a bipartisan group of senators as the Senate prepared to hold its first vote on the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctions Act on Russia and Iran.

Trump and Zelenskyy most recently met earlier this month on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Turkey, where Trump announced that the United States would allow Ukraine to build its own Patriot missiles, CBS News reported. Al Jazeera reported that Kyiv and Washington are also moving closer to a joint drone production deal, with Ukraine on track to produce six to seven million short-range attack drones this year.

Immediately after meeting Zelenskyy, Trump met Netanyahu behind closed doors. It was Netanyahu’s first known face-to-face meeting with Trump since the United States and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28, according to The Guardian and CBS News.

No formal readout of the Netanyahu meeting was immediately released by the White House or Israeli officials, CBS News reported. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said on X that both meetings were “positive and productive!”

Netanyahu’s visit came amid tension with Trump over Israel’s approach to Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, even as Trump has pursued a diplomatic opening with Tehran. The Guardian reported that Trump has called Netanyahu “crazy” and said, “Without me, there would be no Israel.” CBS News reported that Trump has said Netanyahu needs to apply a “softer touch” and “be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”

Asked on Fox News on Tuesday morning about reports that Netanyahu intended to brief him on intelligence related to Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear site in Iran, Trump said he already understood the situation.

“I don’t need Bibi to tell me that,” Trump said, adding that Netanyahu was “telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.” The Guardian quoted Trump as saying he knew “exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe.”

The Guardian reported that the meeting was expected to cover Iran, a framework deal the United States and Israel signed with Lebanon, and a possible expansion of the Abraham Accords. It also reported that Netanyahu faces pressure to reassure Trump he will not obstruct U.S.-led diplomacy in Gaza and Lebanon.

Outside the White House security perimeter, protesters chanted, “Netanyahu, you’re a tyrant” and “Bibi, you’re not welcome here,” The Guardian reported.