President Donald Trump was "p***** off" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public criticism of a proposed U.S. sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, a report said Thursday.
Speaking alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before last week's NATO summit, Trump said Washington would lift sanctions on Türkiye and signaled a willingness to sell the F-35 jets.
The move would be the biggest gesture yet from Trump to Erdoğan, whom he regularly praises and sees as a close ally. The two countries have enjoyed warmer ties since Trump returned to office last year. Erdoğan said he was confident Trump would resolve the issue and end the dispute.
Before Trump's departure for Ankara, Netanyahu criticized the president's intention to sell F-35 jets to Türkiye.
Trump was "p***** off" by the Israeli prime minister's remarks during a Fox News interview, the Axios news site reported Thursday, citing a White House official.
A second official told Axios that Trump felt "Bibi had no right" to weigh in on that issue.
In 2019, the U.S. removed Türkiye from the F-35 program, where Ankara was also a production partner, following its purchase of the S-400 systems. It later also imposed sanctions on its NATO ally.
Washington claimed the system would endanger the jets and is incompatible with NATO systems, while Ankara has repeatedly said there is no conflict between the two and has proposed a commission to study the issue. Türkiye also said it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that its suspension broke the rules.
Reports since Trump's visit claimed Türkiye was poised to transfer the S-400s to an unnamed Gulf country. The Turkish Defense Ministry said on Thursday that "multilateral work" on the systems was underway and the public would be informed "once concrete steps are taken."
Türkiye has long criticized Israeli genocidal operations in Gaza, as well as its attacks on Lebanon and Syria, and it has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to undermine the U.S.-Iran cease-fire.
Meanwhile, Israeli media claimed Trump would host Netanyahu next week, but Axios, citing White House officials, said no meeting had been scheduled.
The Israeli premier has reportedly sought a meeting with Trump for more than two weeks. He has visited the Oval Office six times since Trump returned to office in January 2025.
Reports in Israeli media had indicated that Netanyahu planned to travel to Washington this weekend to attend the funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and meet Trump on Monday.
The trip was canceled on Thursday after Graham's funeral service was postponed, Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Two White House officials reportedly said that Netanyahu wanted to see Trump but that no meeting had been confirmed or placed on the president's schedule.
"Our impression was that Bibi was trying to will a meeting into existence," Axios quoted an official as saying.
The news outlet said White House officials did not rule out a meeting when Netanyahu eventually travels to Washington for Graham's memorial service.
The delay comes amid growing tensions between the Trump administration and Netanyahu's government over the war with Iran.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance suggested Wednesday that members of the Israeli government were seeking to undermine Washington's diplomatic efforts with Tehran in an effort to prolong the military campaign.
