Donald Trump gushed about Benjamin Netanyahu in an over-the-top Truth Social tirade calling for corruption charges against the Israeli Prime Minister to be dropped immediately.
“BREAKING NEWS…I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister!” the president posted on his social media platform Wednesday evening.
Trump, allied with Netanyahu, authorized U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, following a burst of conflict that began on June 13 when Israel launched a series of surprise attacks on Iranian military and nuclear targets. Trump has since fixated on portraying the operation as a conclusive success, furiously raging against mounting evidence to the contrary.
“Bibi and I just went through HELL together, fighting a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran, and Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land,” Trump wrote.
“Anybody else would have suffered losses, embarrassment, and chaos! Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel.”
Trump argued there had been nobody in Israel’s history that “fought harder or more competently” than Netanyahu.
He said he had “just learned” that Bibi has been “summoned to Court on Monday” to continue his long-running corruption trial, which Trump slammed as a “politically motivated case.”
“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” Trump continued.
Netanyahu’s corruption trial, which began in 2020 and has faced repeated delays, centers on three cases involving allegations that he accepted lavish gifts from wealthy benefactors and sought favorable media coverage in exchange for regulatory benefits.
His political opponents have accused him of prolonging and leveraging the war in Gaza to avoid court appearances and bolster his political standing. However, this month’s successful operation in Iran has reportedly helped shift public focus away from his legal and political troubles.
Trump added, “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.”
He ended his post with more effusive praise for his Israeli ally, and a declaration that he would be Netanyahu’s saviour.
“It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu,” he concluded. “THIS TRAVESTY OF ‘JUSTICE’ CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!”
Netanyahu too has described the trial as a politically motivated “witch hunt,” echoing Trump’s language about his own civil and criminal entanglements. Trump was convicted last year in a criminal case for falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump has also been hit with massive civil penalties. He was found liable for fraud in New York and for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. He is appealing the verdicts in the criminal and civil cases.
