U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 29, 2025. AP-Yonhap
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push Donald Trump on Wednesday to take a tougher stance in nuclear talks with Iran, after rushing to Washington to stiffen the U.S. president's resolve.
Trump said on the eve of the hastily arranged White House meeting — set to begin at 11:00 am local time (1600 GMT) — that he was weighing sending a second U.S. "armada" to the Middle East to pressure Tehran to reach a nuclear deal.
But Netanyahu, making his sixth visit to the United States since Trump took office, will also be urging the U.S. leader to take a harder line on arch-foe Iran's ballistic missile program.
Tehran, which resumed talks with Washington last week in Oman, warned Monday of "destructive influences" on diplomacy ahead of the Israeli premier's visit.
Netanyahu had been expected to come to Washington for a February 19 meeting of Trump's "Board of Peace" for Gaza, but reportedly brought forward his visit as the U.S.-Iran talks proceeded.
Already in town Tuesday night, Netanyahu met with Trump's Middle East envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
They "discussed regional issues, and they provided an update on the first round of negotiations they held with Iran last Friday," according to a statement on the X account for the Israeli prime minister.
While talking up hopes of a nuclear deal, Trump warned in an interview with the Axios news outlet earlier Tuesday that he was "thinking" of sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region.
"Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time," Trump said. "We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going."
Source: Korea Times News
