Donald Trump sought to play down tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday as he called for hostages held by Hamas “to be given back immediately”.
Speaking alongside Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, the Republican presidential candidate said their relationship “was never bad?.?.?.?we’ve always had a very good relationship”.
The pair had been close while Trump was in office, but their relationship soured in late 2020. Trump was critical of Netanyahu after he congratulated President Joe Biden for winning the 2020 election and later criticised him for backing out of an operation to kill former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani.