Trump smacks down Mamdani's threats to arrest Israeli P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump shot down New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he comes to the U.S. in September for the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in Manhattan.

"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "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."

Over the weekend, in an interview with The New York Times, Mamadani went so far as to say, "I believe Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He is a war criminal who has been charged by the ICC. That's an active conversation with our legal department." Mamdani continued, referencing the arrest warrant for Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and said, "He's the architect of the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza as Israel's prime minister."

On Monday, Mamdani doubled down on the threat to arrest Mamdani, telling reporters at a press conference that Netanyahu is the subject of the arrest warrant "for alleged crimes against humanity, for war crimes." The mayor added that "I believe, when someone is charged with an International Criminal Court warrant, it's something that should be taken seriously."

In addition to Trump's admonition on social media, Netanyahu's office posted a statement on X saying, "the ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis." The statement also called on Mamdani to "focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York."

At least one Democrat condemned Mamdani's threats to have Netanyahu arrested. U.S. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said in an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax that Mamdani has no jurisdiction to arrest the Israeli prime minister.

"He's a total clown. I mean, he has the authority to arrest Netanyahu any more than I would have the authority to arrest him in Washington, D.C. if he visited down in Washington, D.C.," Fetterman said.

Trump also made reference to the fact that Mamdani's threats are coming at time when the war with Iran, which Israel has played a pivotal role in, has been escalating in recent days. "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 said.