President Trump meets with President Zelensky and talks with President Putin regarding Ukraine issue
President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy and said he believed a peace deal in Ukraine was coming together.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he was informed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog of plans to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the Israeli prime minister’s lengthy corruption trial, a claim Herzog’s office quickly denied.
President Trump addressed reporters alongside Prime Minister Netanyahu on December 29, before meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. “I’ve talked to the president, and he says plans are moving forward.”
“He’s a wartime hero and a prime minister. Why not pardon him?” Trump said. “I think it’s very difficult not to do that.”
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has been on trial since 2020 on three separate charges, including one for allegedly accepting gifts of about 700,000 shekels (about $211,832) from a businessman. Prime Minister Netanyahu has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
However, Israel’s presidential office denied that any decision had been taken and insisted that Herzog and Trump had not spoken in the weeks since Netanyahu formally requested a pardon on November 30 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
“There have been no conversations between President Herzog and President Trump since the clemency request was filed,” Herzog’s office said in a statement.
“A few weeks ago, a conversation took place between President Herzog and a representative of President Trump in which he was asked about the letter of the President of the United States,” the statement continued, referring to a November 12 letter from President Trump to Herzog urging him to consider pardoning Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“During that conversation, an explanation was given of the current stage of the request and that any decisions regarding this matter would be made according to established procedures. This was communicated to President Trump’s representatives, as President Herzog has publicly stated in Israel,” the statement said.
President Trump has repeatedly called for a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally, including in a speech to Israel’s parliament in October during a visit to Israel to commemorate the completion of the first phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli judicial system and its requirements, I believe this ‘case’ against Mr. Bibi, who has fought alongside me for many years, including against Israel’s very powerful enemy, Iran, is a political and unwarranted prosecution,” Trump wrote in a Nov. 12 letter to Herzog.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu showered each other with words of praise before the Mar-a-Lago meeting began. Trump touted the U.S. ordering airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June and his administration’s efforts to secure a Gaza peace deal that includes the return of Israeli hostages.
“I have never had a friend like President Trump in the White House. Not even close,” Netanyahu said. “I think Israel is extremely blessed to have President Trump leading the United States.”
Contributed by: Reuters
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