White House Says No Meeting Scheduled Between Trump and Netanyahu

White House officials said no meeting has been scheduled between President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite Israeli press reports that the two leaders would meet on Monday. Netanyahu has visited the Oval Office six times since Trump returned to office a year and a half ago. He has sought an appointment for more than two weeks.

Trump told Axios early this month that Netanyahu called to congratulate him on the 250th Independence Day and asked to visit the White House. Trump said at the time that Netanyahu could come after the president returned from the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8. No meeting followed the summit.

Netanyahu's office told reporters after news of former Sen. Lindsey Graham's death that the prime minister wanted to attend the funeral. Aides later said Netanyahu planned to travel to the U.S. this weekend and meet Trump on Monday.

The office notified the Israeli Air Force to prepare his plane and sent an advance team of protocol and security officials to Washington. On Thursday morning Netanyahu's office announced the trip had been canceled because Graham's funeral service was postponed.

Two White House officials told Axios that while Netanyahu wanted to meet Trump, the meeting was never confirmed or added to the president's schedule.

White House officials did not rule out a possible meeting when Netanyahu attends Graham's wake at the National Cathedral later this month. Before Trump's trip to Ankara, Netanyahu appeared on Fox News and criticized the planned sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. One White House official told Axios that Trump was "pissed off" by the interview.

Another said Trump felt "Bibi had no right" to weigh in on the issue. During the Ankara trip, Israel provided U.S. officials with intelligence indicating a senior Iranian official suggested trying to kill Trump while he was in Turkey.