Franco Ordonez

President Trump says he insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see if a deal on Iran's nuclear program can be reached.

The prime minister signaled ahead of the meeting that he was concerned about the direction of the talks and wanted to ensure that Israel's needs were taken into consideration.

A person familiar with the matter told NPR that Israel feels the talks are futile and that further military strikes are inevitable.

Israel would join those strikes.

In a social media post, Trump says he told Netanyahu that his preference was to continue talks.

If a deal can't be reached, Trump again floated the idea of more strikes on Iran.

The president said they also discussed Gaza and stability in the Middle East.

Franco Ordonez, NPR News, the White House.

President Trump has repeatedly swung from threatening strikes to making a deal

Matthew Kroenig, who worked on the Iranian file at the Pentagon, says Netanyahu would prefer strikes, but also wants to do what he can to influence any potential agreement.

Trump has made clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

But Netanyahu wants any deal to also include limits on ballistic missiles and ending support for militant proxy groups.

Franco Ordonez, NPR News.

Good morning, Michelle.

Well, Michelle, I mean, the Middle East has been undergoing major changes recently.

I mean, just a few weeks ago, you had these unprecedented protests against the Iranian regime.

The death toll has surpassed 6,000 people, according to the U.S.-based human rights activist news agency.

And Trump was actually talking about strikes on Iran, which, of course, is perhaps Israel's greatest security threat in the region.

So Netanyahu was pretty happy with that situation, according to Matthew Kroenig, who worked on the Iranian file at the Pentagon.

But Kroenig says the prime minister is now watching Trump make this kind of 180-degree turn with talks of a deal with Tehran, and he's worried about what will actually be in it.