US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he might travel to Israel for the opening of a new US embassy there, located in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post reported.
“I may go,” the president said. “Very proud of it.”
Administration officials have previously said it was unlikely that Trump would lead the delegation, and that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, senior adviser Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, his daughter, would travel in his stead.
Trump was speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Asked about the embassy opening, he praised the location in Arnona, in West Jerusalem, as an ideal spot.
He told a story of being mid-signature on a document signing off on construction of the new facility when he noticed a billion-dollar price tag. David Friedman, his former lawyer now serving as US ambassador to Israel, told him on the phone he could get it done for a fraction of the price.
The embassy is slated to open around Israel’s 70th anniversary, on May 14.