'He’s a war hero. I guess I am too,' US president says during interview with conservative radio host Mark Levin
US President Donald Trump praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war hero,” even though the Israeli leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza.
“He’s a good man. He’s in there fighting…He’s a war hero, because we worked together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too,” Trump said Tuesday in an interview with conservative radio host Mark Levin.
Trump dismissed efforts to hold Netanyahu accountable, claiming “they’re trying to put him in jail.”
It was unclear if he was referring to the ICC warrant or Netanyahu’s domestic corruption cases. In June, Trump openly called for Netanyahu’s corruption trial to be dismissed.
Netanyahu, on trial since 2020, is the first sitting Israeli leader to face criminal proceedings while in office.
Last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its brutal war on the enclave.
Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023 —the vast majority of them women and children — according to local authorities. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Trump also said he “worked hard” to secure the release of Israeli hostages in past negotiations with the Palestinian group Hamas, adding: “I’m the one that got all the hostages back…I’ve had so many letters from parents and from the kids themselves and the people that got out...none of these people would have been back, but I got them back."
He went on to praise the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
“I mean, I sent those planes…The pilots came. I rewarded them. I brought them all to the Oval Office, the people having to do with that whole operation, which was so perfect…a total obliteration,” Trump said, referring to the strikes that targeted the nuclear facilities.
He also lashed out at Democrats, accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of siding with Palestinians.
“It’s amazing that Democrats, like Schumer’s a Palestinian. You know, he’s right now a Palestinian senator. We call him the Palestinian senator from New York,” he said.
