President Trump on Monday responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for criticizing his plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying, “Nobody tells me what we should be selling or not.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump on Tuesday at the White House during a visit to the United States, where he will also attend the wake for late Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump told reporters that he and Netanyahu are “pretty close” to the same page. “We have a little difference, but pretty close,” Trump said.
But he made it clear that they’re not on the same page regarding Turkey.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu appeared on CNN with Dana Bash hours after Trump said he would sell F-35s to Turkey during the NATO Summit in Ankara, overturning a ban from his first term.
“He’s not exactly a model ally of the United States,” Netanyahu said, asserting that the move “doesn’t make Turkey a friendly state to the United States.”
“It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East,” he continued. “This is not a force for peace and stability… When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake.”
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Trump was asked on Air Force One earlier about Netanyahu’s opposition, and he essentially told the Israeli Prime Minister to pound sand.
“Well, look, Turkey’s been a great ally for me. You know, I think he’s done a very good job, did a good job with Syria. He’s a friend of mine,” Trump said of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“And nobody tells me what we should be selling or not. Turkey’s been a tremendous ally for me.”
“If it was up to Turkey, Turkey would,” Trump continued, noting they’re “not a big fan of Israel” and “not a big fan of Bibi.”
“They’ve been great for me. Turkey has been great, very powerful country, by the way. Tremendous military, very big military, very powerful military, has a lot of great equipment.”
When asked if Netanyahu wants the US to strike a deal with Iran or keep fighting, Trump declined to say but suggested that Netanyahu wants the US to keep going.
“Bibi has been great. I’m not going to say it. He was a wartime prime minister. We did very well together, and if you look at Iran now, they’re 8% of what they were four months ago. They’re 8% of what they were four months ago. So we’ll see how this all comes out.”
WATCH:
As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier, President Trump has halted US strikes against Iran as talks resume over the Strait of Hormuz and a potential long-term peace deal.
Still, Trump said he’s ready to “go back to very strong military action” in “not much time.”
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