Trump Says Netanyahu 'Will Not Be Arrested' in US, Rejecting Mamdani's ICC Threat

President Trump shut the door on Zohran Mamdani's arrest threat against Benjamin Netanyahu, and he did it in classic Trump fashion: all caps, zero hedging, straight to Truth Social.

"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," Trump wrote, according to CNBC. He added that Netanyahu "is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others."

Trump's real target wasn't just Mamdani. It was Tehran. "The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents," he wrote, per the New York Post.

What Mamdani Actually Said

Mamdani didn't invent this fight during his campaign and drop it once elected. He told the New York Times' "The Interview" podcast that "Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague," calling him "a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court," according to CNBC.

But Mamdani has been careful, at least rhetorically, about the limits of his office. "Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do, but we won't be writing our own laws to that end," he said, according to NDTV Profit. His administration is reportedly consulting the city's Law Department on how much authority the mayor actually has over the NYPD when it comes to a foreign head of state.

Mamdani isn't claiming he can personally deputize police to snatch a sitting prime minister off a sidewalk. He's asking a legal question: does an ICC warrant create any obligation or opening for local law enforcement. Based on available sources, nobody has produced a legal mechanism showing a US city government can execute an ICC warrant on American soil. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, and Washington has never recognized the court's jurisdiction over Americans or, by extension, over an ally it doesn't believe the court has authority over either.

Netanyahu's Office Fires Back

Netanyahu's office didn't wait for Trump to respond. In a statement on X, it called the ICC "a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis," and took a personal shot at the court's former chief prosecutor: "Its bogus arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu was issued by a disgraced former ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, a few days before allegations of sexual misconduct against him became public," according to CNBC.

The statement then turned on Mamdani directly: "Instead of backing Khan's criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York."

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon piled on too, accusing the mayor of chasing international headlines instead of running his city, according to NDTV Profit.

The ICC Warrant, For the Record

The warrant is real and it's not new. The ICC issued it on November 21, 2024, alleging Netanyahu is "responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population," plus "crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts" tied to the Gaza war from October 2023 through May 2024, per CNBC. Netanyahu has never been charged, tried, or convicted of anything in a US or Israeli court on these allegations. This is an ICC warrant, not a conviction, and the US does not recognize the court's authority to act against Israeli or American nationals.

The Part Getting Less Attention

While Mamdani and Trump traded public shots, ynetnews reported a separate and arguably more consequential story. Israeli officials say figures aligned with Vice President JD Vance are actively working to prevent a Trump-Netanyahu meeting altogether, out of concern Netanyahu will use face time with Trump to push for a harder line against Iran. No date has been set for any meeting.

According to those officials, the public friction between Trump and Netanyahu is partly performative, and the real relationship is smoother than it looks. Netanyahu reportedly wants to travel to Washington in the coming days but is reluctant to make the trip without a confirmed Trump meeting locked in. He already canceled one planned visit this week. Israeli officials say the White House showed little appetite for scheduling the sit-down, believing Netanyahu was trying to force it onto the calendar.

Mamdani's arrest threat is aimed at a September visit tied to the UN General Assembly, months away. Whether Netanyahu even sets foot in the US before then remains an open question the ynetnews reporting raises but doesn't resolve. No meeting has been confirmed, and no legal mechanism for a Mamdani-ordered arrest has been identified by any source here.