President Donald Trump pledged on Thursday that he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, the first time Trump has addressed the matter in his second term. 

Asked about reports that he told Arab leaders this week he would not permit Israel to make the move, Trump confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office that he opposes annexation. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, nope, I will not allow it. It’s not gonna happen,” he said, hours after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Asked if he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the issue, Trump said, “Yeah, but I’m not going to allow it. Whether I spoke to him or not — I did — but I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough, it’s time to stop now.” 

Netanyahu will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, and he and Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Monday, for their fourth White House meeting of the year. 

In his own General Assembly address earlier this week, Trump pledged his support for Israel and sharply criticized several European nations who had unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state. He did not mention annexation or include any criticism of Israel in his remarks.

Netanyahu has pledged to respond to those moves next week, with annexation of the West Bank viewed as one possible action he could pursue, under pressure from right-wing elements of his governing coalition.

President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that he was likely to permit Turkey to purchase F-35 fighter jets as soon as “the end of the day,” ending a nearly eight year blockade on Ankara’s acquiring the top-of-the-line fighter jet as a result of its 2017 purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system.

Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a meeting between the two and their respective teams, Trump said without mentioning the F-35’s or the less-advanced F-16 jets by name that he expected the Turkish leader would “be successful with buying the things” he would “like to buy.”

“He needs certain things, and we need certain things, and we’re going to come to a conclusion. You’ll know by the end of the day,” Trump said at the outset of his meeting with Erdogan. 

The White House declined to comment on what the president was referring to or if an announcement regarding resumed F-35 sales to Ankara was imminent. 

Erdogan has focused his visit to the White House, his first such trip in six years, around securing U.S. sanctions relief and approval for new arms deals, including the F-35 jets and other fighter and Boeing aircraft. Trump implemented the sanctions during his first term after Turkey purchased a Russian air defense system that U.S. officials warned could be used by the Russians to harness data on the F-35’s capabilities and compromise the aircraft.

The sanctions, pursued through the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, are still in place due to Turkey’s refusal to replace the Russian system. The Biden administration approved the sale of F-16 jets to Turkey in early 2023 on the condition of Ankara allowing Sweden to join NATO.

The prospect of Trump changing course on the sale has sparked bipartisan concern from some lawmakers. While some see such a sale as a way to incentivize better behavior from Ankara, others have warned that the embrace could have the opposite effect.

A bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday urging the Trump administration against approving a deal for F-16s or F-35s. 

It was signed by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Dina Titus (D-NV), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jim Costa (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rob Menendez (D-NJ), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Gabe Amo (D-RI). The American Jewish Committee, CUFI Action Fund and FDD Action were among the organizations that endorsed the letter.

“The security risks of Turkey’s acquisition and continued possession of the Russian S-400 system are well known. The S-400 poses a direct threat to U.S. military aircraft, including both the F-16 and F-35, by enabling Russian intelligence to gain insight into sensitive U.S. military technology if operated alongside these platforms,” the lawmakers wrote. 

“Congress has consistently upheld bipartisan restrictions on Turkey’s access to the F-35. Any move to reverse this policy without first securing the statutorily required certification would be a clear violation of U.S. law, undermine Congressional authority, and signal to others that U.S. law and strategic principles can be disregarded,” they added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted President Donald Trump in the White House Monday evening with effusive warmth, expressing the “appreciation and admiration” of Israel, the Jewish people and “the leadership of the free world” for the U.S.’ recent bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities. 

He also offered Trump an avenue toward his elusive goal: receiving a Nobel Peace Prize.

“He is forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other. So I want to present you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee,” Netanyahu announced, saying it would be a “well-deserved” honor for Trump. 

“Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful,” Trump said. “It’s a great honor.”

Similar exchanges of flattery are not an unusual occurrence in the Trump White House. But the warmth and back-slapping present a marked shift even from Netanyahu’s last visit to Washington in April — when he sought to head off U.S. tariffs and urge Trump not to make a nuclear deal with Iran — and a sign of how much has changed in the last three months. 

In April, Netanyahu avoided reporters’ questions about Iran. This time, he and Trump took a victory lap together after a 12-day war in which Israel, with key support from the U.S., exacted significant damage on Iran’s nuclear program. 

“It was an amazing job,” Trump said of the American bombers’ attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran. “This stopped a lot of fighting. When that happened, it was a whole different ballgame.” 

Asked whether he would support additional strikes on Iran, Trump said that he “can’t imagine wanting to do that,” saying that he thinks Iran wants peace.

“They want to meet. They want to work something out. They’re very different now than they were two weeks ago,” Trump said. He ceded the floor to Netanyahu when a reporter asked if the war between Israel and Iran was over. 

“I think the partnership between Israel and the United States, the partnership between President Trump and me, produced a historic victory. It’s an incredible victory,” Netanyahu said. He likened Iran to a tumor, noting that doctors must still check in on cancer patients after a tumor has been removed.

“You have to constantly monitor the situation to make sure that there’s no attempt to bring it back,” Netanyahu said. “This has already changed the face of the Middle East, but it’s not over.”

Taking cues from Trump, Netanyahu offered tentative hope for a new relationship with Syria. Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, have been cautious when considering how to deal with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new president of Syria. Trump, meanwhile, has expressed optimism about al-Sharaa and moved to remove sanctions on Syria. The Trump administration on Monday removed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group previously led by al-Sharaa, from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. 

But on Monday, Netanyahu said there is an “opportunity to explore” with the new government in Israel’s northern neighbor — and gave Trump some credit for it. 

“I think this presents opportunities for stability, for security and eventually for peace,” said Netanyahu. “I think that opportunity has been opened by the president and by the changed security situation, which we brought about with the collapse of the Assad regime.” 

Trump and Netanyahu did not share much publicly about the recent reports suggesting a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is under consideration. 

When asked if he thinks there can be a two-state solution, Trump again handed the mic to Netanyahu.

“You have the greatest man in the world to answer that age-old question,” said Trump. Netanyahu said no.

“We’ll work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don’t want to destroy us, and we’ll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands,” said Netanyahu. “People will say, ‘It’s not a complete state, it’s not a state, it’s not that’ — we don’t care. We vow never again.”