President
Trump met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister
Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday and discussed the nuclear talks with Iran and the war in Gaza, according to two sources briefed on the meeting.
Why it matters: The meeting at the White House, which was not made public by the U.S. or
Israel, took place ahead of the fourth round of nuclear talks between the U.S and Iran on Sunday in Muscat and President Trump's trip to the Middle East starting on Monday.
- Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE on this trip but will skip Israel.
Between the lines: The meeting is somewhat unusual in that presidents don't typically meet with foreign officials who are not the head of state or government.
Friction point: It took place two days after Netanyahu and his team were blindsided by Trump's announcement of a truce with the Houthis, exposing the gaps in trust and coordination between the administrations.
- The announcement came shortly after Israel had carried out strikes on a major port and airport in Yemen in response to a Houthi attack on Tel Aviv's international airport. The Israelis were alarmed that Trump's ceasefire didn't apply to attacks on Israel.
- "We were shocked that the Trump administration didn't tell us anything and we learned about it from the television," one Israeli official told Axios.