President Donald Trump drew a bright red line Monday after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatened to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested on American soil.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump declared in a Truth Social post.
The president defended Netanyahu as a wartime leader confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran, which Trump accused of killing 52,000 protesters and spending decades targeting American troops.
“The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION,” Trump added, arguing that previous presidents should have confronted the regime years ago.
Trump’s declaration came after Mamdani revived one of his most controversial campaign promises during an interview with The New York Times’ Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”
The democratic socialist mayor said his administration is now examining whether he could use the New York Police Department to detain Netanyahu when the Israeli leader is expected to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“That’s an active conversation with our legal department in seeing what the prospects are we have here in our municipality,” Mamdani said.
He insisted he would follow existing city law and would not attempt to write new rules specifically targeting Netanyahu.
But Mamdani’s arrest talk faces a mountain of legal obstacles.
The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court and does not recognize the court’s authority over Americans or Israelis. Foreign affairs are also controlled by the federal government, while diplomatic protections and head-of-state immunity could shield Netanyahu during a U.N. visit.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz dismissed Mamdani’s proposal as “pure political theater.”
“The U.S. is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the ICC,” Waltz wrote on X, adding that the U.N. Headquarters Agreement grants protections to visiting foreign leaders and that “federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.”
Legal experts have expressed similar doubts. Syracuse University law professor Cora True-Frost said foreign affairs are the “exclusive power of the federal government” and that protections afforded to visiting diplomats would further restrict Mamdani’s ability to carry out his threat. NBC New York reported that several former prosecutors believe an attempt to enforce the ICC warrant could expose participating local officials to federal charges.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The court said judges found reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore responsibility for alleged crimes including using starvation as a method of warfare.
Israel has categorically rejected the allegations, maintaining that its military takes extensive precautions to protect civilians while battling a terrorist organization that embeds itself among the Palestinian population.
Netanyahu’s office fired back Sunday by branding the ICC a “kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis.”
“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel has taken unprecedented wartime measures to minimize harm to civilians while confronting Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that uses Palestinians as human shields and deliberately targets innocent Israeli civilians,” his office said.
It then turned its fire directly on City Hall.
“Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York,” Netanyahu’s office concluded.
Netanyahu has also accused the mayor of siding with “terror actors,” while Mamdani has repeatedly characterized Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre as genocide.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has backed its rejection of the ICC with more than words. It has imposed sanctions on court personnel and affiliated organizations involved in efforts to prosecute Israelis, declaring that neither the United States nor Israel is subject to the tribunal’s authority. The State Department has described the court’s actions as a threat to American sovereignty.
Mamdani may be determined to turn Netanyahu’s expected September visit into an international showdown.
Trump’s message was that the mayor will not get the chance.
I’m beginning to believe this man is insane.
Beginning to? He IS insane, just like all of those who blame the Israelis for protecting themselves from the REAL genocide ( think the 7th ).
Well, Dam-me , don’t let your mouth get YOU into something that YOU can’t get your behind out of. I would love to see YOU defy Trump on this-your stupidity is beyond comprehension.
NO & Victory 1
Why are these socialists communists, islamist,muslims, atheists Not Arrested and Proscuted for Treason what they stand for are Not American, its against any and all America, and the American People have fought and died for, any politician that doesn’t go by Our Laws, Our Constitution as Written are Traders and must be permanently removed with assets property confiscated. Citizenship revoked permanently, security clearances revoked permanently, and some Deported immediately that includes judges police military, most of the senate are enemies within and must be removed immediately
“ANY” Anti-American politician, at any level, who openly spews Anti-American sentiments, or flouts Federal Law, should be removed from the office they’re holding. No Courts involvement necessary, just play the video or audio “evidence,” and drag them out of their building by their heels, and prosecute them. RINOs should become aware and cautious as well. Our Country is under attack, and our system is protecting them, allowing their cancer, rhetoric, and mission creep to spread.
To comment on what someone believes actually is a problem for or in our country is what a democracy is all about. But to lie about the U.S., Israel, or any other country is enough to have that person ( or people ) removed from any and every political position imaginable.
If that person is not a U.S. born American, they should certainly lose their citizenship.
They all should first spend some time in jail.
This country was founded on the principals of truth and morality.
It CAN NOT exist any other way.
If ANYBODY should be arrested, it should be DamnMani !