Trump: Netanyahu meeting not formally scheduled, but he’ll probably visit me in Florida

US President Donald Trump said Thursday the White House has not “formally set up” a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that the premier would like to see him and will probably do so in Florida next week.

“We haven’t set it up formally, but he would like to see me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would meet with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach later this month. “He’ll probably come to see me in Florida.”

Netanyahu’s office told reporters earlier this month that he would meet with Trump to discuss plans for Gaza’s future on December 29, though the White House has yet to announce it.

The trip would mark Netanyahu’s fifth to the US to meet the president since Trump returned to the White House this year, and the first since the administration brokered a ceasefire and hostage release that effectively ended two years of fighting in the Gaza Strip. Israel hosted Trump, who addressed the Knesset, on October 13.

Trump was also asked Thursday whether Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi will join him in Florida as well.

“I’d love to have him. El-Sissi is a friend of mine,” Trump responded.

The US is reportedly interested in hosting a trilateral meeting with Trump, Sissi and Netanyahu and feels it was able to move toward that goal after it coaxed Israel into signing a lucrative gas deal with Egypt after Netanyahu had been holding off doing so for months, a US official told The Times of Israel.

But Egypt is far less enthusiastic about the idea amid continued opposition to Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza, and an aversion to granting Netanyahu a political boost in an election year, the US official said.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.