Portrait of President-elect Donald Trump. , 2024. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017645723/.
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON / JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Washington plans to “be involved” in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, calling the legal proceedings “very unfair” during an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s 60 Minutes.
“We’ll be involved in that to help him out a little bit because I think it’s very unfair,” Trump said, adding that the Israeli leader had been “mistreated by the law enforcement apparatus.”
Trump Urged Herzog to Pardon Netanyahu
During his last visit to Israel in October, Trump publicly urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog—before the Knesset—to pardon Netanyahu, who is on trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
However, Israeli law prohibits such a pardon before a verdict is reached and before the defendant formally requests clemency. Netanyahu’s trial, which began in 2020, remains in the cross-examination phase and is not expected to conclude until at least next year.
While the power to pardon rests solely with the president, the process cannot proceed while criminal proceedings are ongoing, making Trump’s suggestion legally impossible under Israel’s Basic Law.
“I Had to Push Him a Little Bit”
Trump also admitted to having pressured Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar for an Israeli strike in Doha that killed several people, including a Qatari security officer, and to agree to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire after more than two years of war in Gaza.
“I had to push him a little bit one way or the other,” Trump said. “I did a great job in pushing. [Netanyahu] is a very talented guy — he’s never been pushed before.”
Pressed on whether he might push for recognition of a Palestinian state, Trump dodged the question but maintained that he and Netanyahu have a “very good relationship.”
“That’s the kind of person you needed in Israel at the time,” he said, referring to Netanyahu as a “wartime prime minister.”
Ceasefire and Hamas Disarmament
Trump insisted that the current Gaza ceasefire, signed in Cairo on October 9, is “not fragile” despite intermittent violations.
“It’s very solid,” he said. “Hamas could be taken out immediately if they don’t behave. If I want them to disarm, I’ll get them to disarm very quickly. They’ll be eliminated.”
While Trump’s broader 20-point plan envisions Hamas’ full disarmament, the actual ceasefire agreement focuses on Israel’s phased withdrawal, prisoner-hostage exchanges, and humanitarian relief — not disarmament.
Hamas has claimed it cannot yet return eight slain hostages, saying their bodies are buried under rubble that requires specialized equipment to recover.
Saudi Normalization and Iran
Trump also addressed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dismissing his insistence that normalization with Israel depends on a two-state solution.
“No,” Trump said flatly. “I think he’s going to join [the Abraham Accords]. We’ll have a solution — I don’t know if it’s going to be two-state. That’s gonna be up to Israel and other people, and me.”
He credited U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure earlier this year for shifting regional dynamics. “We knocked the hell out of Iran, and then it was time to stop, and we stopped,” Trump said.
Attack on NYC Mayoral Candidate
The president also turned his attention to U.S. politics, labeling New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani “a communist, not a socialist,” and mocking his appearance.
“I don’t think he’s wanted,” Trump said, adding that it would be “difficult” to send federal funds to New York “with such a person in power.”
Mamdani, a progressive lawmaker critical of Israel, has accused the Jewish state of genocide during its war against Hamas. Trump previously blasted Mamdani for posing with controversial imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom the U.S. Justice Department has linked to individuals involved in the September 11 attacks.
“The Mamdani thing is a disaster waiting to happen,” Trump said. “You can see there’s a relationship. He blew up the World Trade Center, right?”
A Controversial Signal
Trump’s statement that Washington will “be involved” in Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial marks an unprecedented indication of possible U.S. interference in a close ally’s judicial process.
The comments are likely to provoke political and legal backlash both in Jerusalem—where Netanyahu’s trial has deeply divided Israeli society—and in Washington, where norms against direct involvement in another country’s courts are strongly held.
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