Former US president Donald Trump would consider endorsing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming election.
“I was disappointed with him in certain ways, but overall, I liked him very much, and if he ran I would certainly give it some thought,” Trump said in an interview with US cable channel Newsmax on Thursday. “We’ll see what happens; I don’t know that that’s going to happen. He disappointed me in certain ways, but he also did a very good job in other ways.”
In the four elections since 2019, Netanyahu campaigned on his close relationship with Trump, citing that relationship as indicative of his international stature being “in another league” compared with his political opponents.
Trump and Netanyahu have known each other since the 1980s, when the latter was Israel’s ambassador to the UN and the former was a real estate tycoon. Trump endorsed Netanyahu in a video posted to YouTube ahead of the 2013 election.
Trump's beef with Netanyahu
Throughout Trump’s presidency, both leaders made much of their close ties and their ability to work well together.However, in an interview with an Israeli journalist released in December, Trump said of Netanyahu: “F*ck him.”
Trump was disappointed in Netanyahu for congratulating US President Joe Biden on his election victory in November 2020. Trump continues to maintain that he was the actual winner of the election.
“He was very early,” Trump said. “Like earlier than most. I haven’t spoken to him since.”
"He was very early. Like earlier than most. I haven't spoken to him since."
Donald Trump
Netanyahu, in fact, waited over 12 hours after US news networks called the election for Biden, longer than many world leaders.
Trump said “nobody did more for Bibi” than he did, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
“I liked Bibi,” he added. “I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty.”