US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his private Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday, rather than at the White House due to the Christmas holiday, and warned that Washington would support an Israeli military strike on Iran if Tehran presses ahead with its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
The meeting, the sixth between the two leaders in less than a year, came as Trump said he would seek to advance a move to the second phase of a plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu, for his part, was expected to focus on Iran's efforts to rebuild its missile capabilities and on the threat posed by Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization. Ahead of the meeting with Trump, Netanyahu also met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Speaking to reporters with Netanyahu at his side, Trump said one of the key issues on the agenda was the disarmament of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization that controls Gaza.
"There has to be a disarmament of Hamas," Trump said. "One of the things we will be talking about is that there must be disarmament."
Trump also referred to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying, "I have a good relationship with Erdogan. We will talk about it. If it is good, it will be good. A lot depends on Bibi. Turkey is great. I don't know about you, Bibi."
Praising Netanyahu's leadership during the war, Trump said the Israeli prime minister had guided Israel through an exceptionally difficult period.
"He is a wartime prime minister. He did a good job. He went through a traumatic period with Israel," Trump said. "If you had the wrong prime minister, Israel would not have survived, because you were facing a force that not many would have survived."
Turning to Iran, Trump warned that the Islamic Republic was attempting to rebuild its military strength.
"Now I hear that Iran is trying to build its power again, and we will knock them down again," he said. "If they want to make a deal, it would be smarter. They could have made a deal before the war."
Asked whether he supported the overthrow of the Iranian regime, Trump said he was not seeking to address that issue directly.
"I'm not going to talk about regime change. They have a lot of problems. Their economy is finished," he said. "I know people are unhappy there, but the moment there are protests, they start shooting people."
Trump was then asked directly whether he would support an attack on Iran if it refused to reach an agreement and continued developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
"If they continue with missiles, yes, quickly," Trump replied. "If they continue with nuclear, immediately."
Trump also addressed the possibility of a pardon for Netanyahu in Israel, claiming that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had raised the issue with him.
"President Herzog told me that a pardon for Netanyahu is on the way," Trump said.
