Why this time around, Netanyahu's meeting with Trump might not go to script

For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trips to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington followed a choreographed script: a red carpet, a warm handshake and shared messages about the closeness of the Israel-US alliance. But the relationship has markedly shifted since the two last met five months ago. The close cooperation and effusive praise from the start of the Iran war have given way to Trump's expletive-laden outbursts directed at his most vocal international advocate. Even before Netanyahu's arrival, Trump made his displeasure with him known during a telephone interview on Fox News when asked about reports the Israeli leader planned to share intelligence showing Iran rebuilding its nuclear program. "I don't need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved," Trump said. Netanyahu has been working to secure an invitation to the White House for several weeks, according to a US official and an Israeli source, to discuss progress in the Iran war and warn Trump against diplomatic concessions. Trump had been resistant to meeting, and some White House officials have been frustrated at what they regarded as Israeli attempts to secure a meeting through media leaks — to "will a meeting into existence," the US official said. When the two leaders last met, in February, they laid the groundwork for what became a joint military campaign against Iran. The opening strikes of the war became a showcase of unprecedented military coordination, which Netanyahu and Trump both eagerly promoted and praised. But as the war dragged on, failing to achieve the overly optimistic goal of toppling the Iranian regime, the gap between them became clear: Netanyahu wanted to keep pressing — Trump wanted an exit.