--- title: Donald Trump Says He "Never Mentioned the Name Israel" description: The President asserted he never mentioned the host country's name following a report he had given Russia classified information. canonical: https://time.com/4788631/donald-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-intelligence/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-22T16:33:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:03:18.220Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump: I 'Never Mentioned' Israel to the Russians og:description: He denied he compromised Israeli intelligence sources. og:url: https://time.com/4788631/donald-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-intelligence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89ee36e7bce2fa68/6988ce57656a3f44d1bd019e/trump-israel-hp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4254 og:image:height: 2393 og:image:alt: Donald Trump,Melania Trump,Benjamin Netanyahu og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump: I 'Never Mentioned' Israel to the Russians twitter:description: He denied he compromised Israeli intelligence sources. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89ee36e7bce2fa68/6988ce57656a3f44d1bd019e/trump-israel-hp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump: I 'Never Mentioned' Israel to the Russians > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 22, 2017 4:33 PM UTC  Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on May 22, 2017 in Jerusalem. Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on May 22, 2017 in Jerusalem. Evan Vucci—AP  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 22, 2017 4:33 PM UTC [President Trump](http://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/) sought to rebut claims that he inadvertently compromised Israeli intelligence during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday. Speaking to reporters before a meeting in Israel, Trump said that he never mentioned the country during a controversial Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in which he may have relayed classified information about U.S. intelligence cooperation. “I never mentioned the word or the name Israel. Never mentioned during that conversation,” he told reporters traveling with him when they were allowed in to his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu. ](http://time.com/4671611/donald-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-watch-ive/)“They’re all saying I did, so you have another story wrong. Never mentioned the word Israel.” The Washington _Post_ reported last week that Trump [revealed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.e2b448200f96) “highly classified information” from an ally about a terrorist threat from the Islamic State regarding laptop computers to Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The _New York Times_ [subsequently](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-trump-classified-intelligence-russia.html) reported Israel was the source of the intelligence. According to an account provided by the reporters in attendance, Trump was responding to a question a Bloomberg reporter asked Netanyahu about whether he had any concerns sharing intelligence with the United States. > [](https://twitter.com/margarettalev/status/866678589214699520) “Intelligence cooperation is terrific. 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