Trump vows Netanyahu will not be arrested on U.S. soil
Trump the president said in a Truth Social post that the Israeli prime minister faces no arrest in the United States as he fights Iran, calling for those who led Tehran to be detained instead.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump declared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces no arrest inside the United States.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America. He 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. 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! Trump”
The statement, posted on July 20, 2026 at 12:50 PM ET, framed Netanyahu as an ally in a conflict with Tehran and shifted the blame for the region’s violence onto Iran’s leadership. Trump wrote that Iran had spent 47 years killing American soldiers, a reference to the period since the 1979 revolution. He offered no source for the figure of 52,000 he attributed to Iran.
The assurance carries weight because the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over alleged war crimes tied to the war in Gaza. The United States is not a member of the court and does not recognize its jurisdiction, so any arrest inside American territory would require domestic legal action rather than deference to The Hague.
Stakes surround the pledge for both leaders. Netanyahu gains a public guarantee of safe passage for any visit to Washington, while Trump signals a foreign policy that treats the court’s warrant as illegitimate. Governments that recognize the court, including several close U.S. partners in Europe, face a different calculation when the prime minister travels within their borders.
Has this happened before? This is not the first time a sitting U.S. president has rejected the reach of the International Criminal Court. Washington has never joined the court and passed a law in 2002 authorizing measures to shield American personnel from its prosecutions. Trump’s vow extends that posture to a foreign head of government hosted on American soil.
The next move rests with Netanyahu and his government, along with any court or partner nation that must weigh the warrant. No date for a decision on a possible visit or further action has been announced.
Standoffs between American presidents and international tribunals are not new. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act, legislation critics nicknamed the “Hague Invasion Act” for its clause permitting force to free detained U.S. personnel. That law set the template for a Washington that guards allies and its own citizens from the court, a stance that has outlasted three presidents and now shapes Trump’s promise to Netanyahu.
OpenTopoMap / Natural Earth – Islamic Republic Of Iran
Photo by OpenTopoMap / Natural Earth – Islamic Republic Of Iran