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President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately at the White House on Tuesday, with both leaders also attending Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral service.
“President Donald Trump held separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Tuesday (July 28)”
The Times of Israel said Netanyahu spoke and shook hands with Zelensky before Graham's funeral service, noting that they had not spoken since January 2025 and had last met in person in September 2023.
ABC News reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X that the Oval Office meetings were “positive and productive,” as the two leaders sought to push their agendas amid the U.S. policy shifts on Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war.
In the same reporting, ABC News said Zelensky and Netanyahu met with Trump as the meetings were expected to give each leader a chance to push their agendas with the president, while the funeral brought them together in Washington.
Patriot Licenses and Iran
Zelensky said he and Trump discussed “licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” and he added that “it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”
The Times of Israel reported that Zelensky thanked Trump after the meeting for the “good meeting” and for the Republican administration’s efforts to aid Kyiv, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the meetings were “positive and productive.”
On Iran, ABC News said Trump criticized Netanyahu on “Fox & Friends” over reports that Netanyahu planned to discuss Israeli intelligence about potential Iranian excavation at Pickaxe Mountain, and Trump said, “I don't need Bibi to tell me that.”
The Jerusalem Post said Trump hosted Netanyahu on Tuesday to discuss the war in Iran and that the leaders reaffirmed their “ironclad commitment to ensuring that Iran never has nuclear weapons,” while also discussing expanding the Abraham Accords.
Graham’s Legacy and Next Steps
The memorial and funeral events in Washington framed the meetings, with Ynetnews describing the American political establishment gathering Tuesday evening at Washington National Cathedral for Sen. Lindsey Graham, and noting that Graham died unexpectedly on July 11 at the age of 71.
Ynetnews said Vice President JD Vance delivered remarks praising Graham as someone who “loved people from all walks of life,” while also recalling that Graham made Vance laugh “so hard he suffered stomach cramps.”
In parallel, WPLG Local 10 reported that Trump met Zelenskyy and Netanyahu separately at the White House and that Zelenskyy reported Russia had provided satellite images to Iran of U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf, while Zelenskyy said “The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help.”
WPLG Local 10 added that Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he plans to discuss Zelenskyy’s report with Russian President Vladimir Putin, linking the meetings’ immediate diplomacy to the next step in the broader U.S.-Russia-Iran confrontation.
