Trump cozies up to one ally and sours on another

Nothing better illustrates US President Donald Trump’s whimsical approach to dealing with America’s key allies than his latest dealings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both of whom he met at the White House last Tuesday.
Only recently, Trump was talking of Netanyahu as one of his closest allies, working hard with him to implement his plan to end the war in Gaza. Since then, relations between the two men have soured considerably, to the extent that the American president has not shied away from lambasting the Israeli leader in public, especially over their differing approaches to the war against Iran.
Trump’s attempts to rein in Netanyahu, who insists the war against Iran can only end once the country’s nuclear program has been completely destroyed, has led him to claim that Netanyahu will ultimately bow to his wishes. “He’ll do whatever I want him to do,” Trump said.
Zelensky has also been at odds with the Trump administration at times. Both President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance gave the Ukrainian war leader a public dressing down in the Oval Office last year, including for his attire and gratitude. For most observers, this represented an all-time low in relations.
At the heart of Trump’s fractious relationship with Zelensky has been the American leader’s belief that he could use his personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war — a belief that led Trump to initiate numerous diplomatic overtures aimed at agreeing a ceasefire.
The high point of these efforts to persuade Putin to compromise came in August last year, when they met in Alaska. But Putin has refused to engage seriously in peace talks and continued his large-scale attacks against Ukraine, including during Zelensky’s White House visit. This has led Trump to conclude that he is wasting his time with the Russian leader.
Cue a change in his approach to Zelensky, which was very much in evidence at the White House. Ukraine’s president and Israel’s prime minister were both in town to attend the funeral of highly regarded Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was a staunch ally of both Tel Aviv and Kyiv.

The positivity surrounding Zelensky’s visit to the White House stood in stark contrast to the reception afforded to Netanyahu.

Con Coughlin

The Trump administration has been reluctant to grant Kyiv a license to produce its own Patriot missiles, which the Ukrainians desperately need to protect vital infrastructure from Russian missiles. Yet, judging by the comments, the US has gradually shifted its position, opening the way for Ukraine to gain access to sensitive missile technology that could have a profound impact on its war effort.
Trump had suggested he may be amenable to the Ukrainian leader’s request at the NATO Summit last month. The Patriots are currently one of the only systems that can defend against Russia’s ballistic missiles and stocks of the interceptor are precious, so the Ukrainian leader was beaming with this development. “He accepted that he will give us licenses,” Zelensky told Fox News after the meeting.
Zelensky had earlier visited US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which makes the Patriot air defense systems. In a statement posted on X, alongside photos of him posing with company executives, Zelensky wrote: “We talked about our joint capabilities regarding Patriots and other systems. Our teams are already working on specific solutions to move to joint production as quickly as possible.”
The Patriot can intercept ballistic missiles with flight ranges of up to 1,000 km. One battery can simultaneously track up to eight targets and detect more than 100 projectiles. It could take up to a year before Kyiv is able to produce its own versions of the Patriots but every effort will be made to cut the time down.
The positivity surrounding Zelensky’s visit to the White House stood in stark contrast to the reception afforded to Netanyahu, who had a private meeting with Trump in the Oval Office shortly after Zelensky. The White House was rumored to have initially declined to schedule a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump over concerns about the Israeli premier’s stalling tactics in Gaza.
Only after Netanyahu pushed Israel’s security Cabinet to approve the deployment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza did Trump agree to see him, according to reports. Trump regards the ISF as a key component of his plan to bring lasting peace to Gaza but its deployment has so far been stalled by Israeli objections to its role in the enclave.
Although they met, the relationship between the two men is understood to still be tense, despite Netanyahu claiming it had been “one of the best conversations I have had” with Trump. A photo of them in the Oval Office was shared by Netanyahu’s team but, behind the scenes, officials reported a frosty atmosphere, with Netanyahu expressing skepticism about Trump’s efforts to reach a deal with Iran.
Netanyahu would rather increase pressure on Iran “through kinetic and non-kinetic means,” according to a senior Israeli official in a briefing with reporters. Yet with the wars in Ukraine and Iran showing no sign of ending, Trump’s shifting position in his dealings with Ukraine and Israel could have a profound impact on how both conflicts are ultimately resolved.

• Con Coughlin is one of Britain’s leading journalists and an international best-selling author. His previous posts include Executive Defense and Foreign Affairs Editor with London’s Daily Telegraph. He is a leading expert on global conflict, international security and the Middle East.

— This column first appeared in Al-Majalla.