A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump seems to be spending a lot of time on international affairs this week.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
He's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House twice in two days. He's also talking about a ceasefire deal in Gaza, but other promised deals remain elusive as well.
MARTÍNEZ: Here to discuss the foreign policy dilemmas facing the president this week is NPR's senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith. So let's first start with Gaza. What's come out of Netanyahu's trip so far?
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Well, Netanyahu came prepared to charm. At dinner with President Trump on Monday night, he presented him with the letter he sent to the Nobel Committee nominating Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, something Trump has made no secret of coveting. Netanyahu was back at the White House yesterday afternoon for more talks, which Trump said would focus on Gaza.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Gaza is a tragic - it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy. And he wants to get it solved. And I want to get it solved. And I think the other side wants to get it solved.
KEITH: During a cabinet meeting yesterday, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he is hopeful that by the end of the week, there will be an agreement with 10 live hostages released, as well as nine deceased. Witkoff says he thinks this will lead to a lasting peace in Gaza. It's still unclear if Hamas and Israel will agree to the final terms. And as a reminder, President Trump during the campaign pledged that he would end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine in 24 hours. But he has since admitted that it's proving more complicated and challenging.
MARTÍNEZ: So on Ukraine, President Trump seems to have turned on Russian President Vladimir Putin. What's happening with that relationship?
KEITH: Yeah. Trump has been trying to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine since taking office, with little to show for it. He cast his relationship with Putin as leverage in ending the conflict. And then there was that Oval Office clash with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy back in February. But now it's Putin he's unhappy with. This was Trump yesterday.
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TRUMP: We get a lot of [expletive] thrown at us by Putin for - you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.
KEITH: So more strong language there from the president and really a culmination of growing frustration with Putin over continued attacks on Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. But - so last week, the Trump administration paused arms shipments to Ukraine. So, I mean, where does that stand?
KEITH: The Pentagon had put a pause on already-promised shipments of crucial air defense missiles to Ukraine. Trump has now reversed that decision, saying Ukraine needs to be able to defend itself as Russia continues its bombardment. And during that Cabinet meeting yesterday, a reporter asked Trump who had ordered the pause, and Trump said he didn't know. William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, says, resuming the arms shipments is the right decision.
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WILLIAM TAYLOR: My view is that President Trump is figuring out that Putin is the problem, that Putin is the obstacle to one of President Trump's signature foreign policy initiatives. That is stopping this war.
KEITH: Taylor says Putin has been stringing the president along, trying to play for more time so that he can continue just grinding forward on the battlefield.
MARTÍNEZ: One more thing, Tam, since we talked about foreign policy, what about tiffs?
KEITH: Yeah. Trump now says that August 1 is the deadline, and tariffs will go into effect - no extensions. He is continuing to send letters to countries he hasn't been able to strike deals with telling them what tariffs on their exports to the U.S. will be. Trump now says those letters are the deals.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. We'll see. That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Thanks a lot.
KEITH: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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