US official says Trump unlikely to meet with Netanyahu at UN, cites scheduling difficulties
Israeli TV report says PM expected to visit Texas, where he'll likely meet with Elon Musk, before heading to NYC for General Assembly next week
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not among the world leaders scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week, and it is unlikely the pair will have time in their itineraries to squeeze in a sit-down, a US official told The Times of Israel on Friday.
Trump will meet with the leaders of the UK, Mexico and Japan on Tuesday before heading back to Washington to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, the US official said.
The American president is also expected to meet with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez while in New York, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told reporters, saying the two would hold talks on the sidelines of “a UN General Assembly leaders’ reception” that Trump will host.
Waltz did not elaborate on who was invited to that reception. The Axios news site said earlier this week that Trump was expected to meet Gulf leaders during the General Assembly to discuss the next steps in the Iran war and US ideas for a postwar strategy, with Israel’s Channel 13 news reporting Friday that Netanyahu hopes to meet with them as well.
Netanyahu is set to speak next Thursday and is scheduled to only be in town for about a day.
While a meeting with Trump appeared increasingly unlikely, the Israel Hayom daily reported Thursday that Netanyahu will instead meet with Rubio in New York.
The Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel that the schedule for the trip was still not finalized.
Before heading to the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu will visit Texas for several meetings, according to the unsourced Channel 13 report on Friday, including for likely talks with tech titan Elon Musk.
It was not immediately clear what Netanyahu would discuss with Musk, who the premier similarly made a detour to see ahead of the UN General Assembly in 2023, when they held a live discussion at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
The Israeli television report said that the flight to Texas would require several members of Netanyahu’s entourage to fly commercially instead of taking the Wing of Zion aircraft, resulting in a higher cost to taxpayers.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.