Netanyahu insists ties with Trump are ‘excellent’ amid reports of growing rift

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects reports of widening gaps between him and US President Donald Trump, and says that his relationship with the president is “excellent,” in a video update on his X account.

“What can I say — it’s not Trump saying it and it’s not me saying it,” says Netanyahu, when asked about sources in the media claiming there is growing tension between Washington and Jerusalem amid the war in Gaza and the US-Iran nuclear talks.

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“It was his [Trump’s] spokesperson at the White House who said: ‘What is this nonsense?’” continues Netanyahu, referring to recent comments from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, saying that “She said the relationship is excellent, and I’m telling you — the relationship is excellent.”

“These spins — most of them are born here [in Israel.] They’re born in a certain media outlet that’s trying to promote a certain candidate. And in order to promote him, they need to say: ‘Trump and Netanyahu are no longer,” the premier claims.

He does not name the media outlet.

“I speak to him [Trump] from time to time. I won’t say every couple of days, but every two or three weeks, I talk to him. My people are in the White House — including just two to three days ago, they were there…We are currently blessed with a president and an administration that is very, very friendly. And we’re trying to coordinate both the big things, as well as the small things,” concludes Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 13 reports this evening that people in Netanyahu’s inner circle have expressed unusually harsh criticism toward the Trump administration in recent weeks.

“There’s chaos in the Trump administration — the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing,” said a senior figure close to the premier, according to the report.

“It’s not even clear if this has anything to do with us. Everything operates according to the president’s whims. Sometimes that works in our favor, and sometimes it doesn’t,” the source said.

The premier’s office also expressed disappointment in the White House through Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, during a meeting last Thursday between the top Netanyahu adviser and Trump, the report adds.