Trump Meets With Netanyahu At Mar-A-Lago, Slams ‘Incompetent People Running Our Country’

Former President Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah to his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, just one day after the prime minister met with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump told Netanyahu during the meeting, “We have incompetent people running our country,” according to Trump Deputy Communications Director Margo Martin. A video posted to Trump’s Truth Social account shows the Republican presidential candidate greeting the Netanyahus before they posed for photos.

Netanyahu posted a photo on X just minutes later, showing the prime minister and former president posing between an American flag and an Israeli flag while Netanyahu held a hat that reads, “Total Victory.”

שבת שלום 🇮🇱🇺🇸 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/37BhM5HgYS

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 26, 2024

Trump has maintained his support for Israel as it continues its operation to root out Hamas, but he has urged the U.S. ally to finish the war in Gaza soon. In a Thursday interview with “Fox & Friends,” Trump said that he wants Netanyahu “to finish up and get it done quickly.”

The Friday meeting was the first between the two leaders since Trump was in the White House.

Netanyahu met with Vice President Harris on Thursday and addressed Congress on Wednesday as his nation continues its war against Hamas in Gaza. Harris, who is now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has ramped up her criticism of Israel in recent months. In March, Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks,” saying that Israel “must ensure humanitarian personnel, sites, and convoys are not targeted.”

The Israeli delegation was reportedly disappointed with its meeting with the vice president, and some sources said that members of the delegation did not have a good impression of Harris. Following the meeting, Harris told reporters that she expressed her “concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.”

During his address to Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump for facilitating the Abraham Accords peace deal between countries in the Middle East and for moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Netanyahu also thanked President Joe Biden for “standing with” Israel “during our darkest hour.”