Netanyahu's trial 'very unfair,' Trump says while promising Washington involvement

“We’ll be involved in that to help him out a little bit because I think it’s very unfair,” Trump said on CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday.

Trump, during his speech at the Knesset last month, urged President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu.

The trial began in 2020 and is in the stage of cross-examination. Once the prosecution concludes, the judges will convene to author a verdict. This is expected to take at least a year.

While the executive power to grant a pardon lies with the president, it is contingent on specific conditions, such as a verdict – it cannot be issued while a criminal process is ongoing – as well as a request from Netanyahu, who has not asked for one.

“I had to push him a little bit one way or the other. I did a great job in pushing,” Trump said, adding that Netanyahu is a “very talented guy” who has “never been pushed before.”

Asked about whether Trump could push forward the recognition of a Palestinian state, Trump dodged the question.

Trump also repeatedly criticized New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani when asked about the elections, saying that the candidate was a “communist, not a socialist” and not as good-looking as himself.

“I don’t think he’s wanted,” Trump said of Mamdani, while adding it would be difficult for him to direct funds to New York with such a person in a position of power.

Mamdani, who has stood vocally against the Jewish state and accused Israel of genocide in the war against Hamas, was previously subject to criticism from the US president when he posted a photo beside Siraj Wahhaj last month.

The controversial Islamic figure was thought to be one of the co-conspirators of the September 11 attacks, but was never indicted.

“The Mamdani thing is – it’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Trump said at the time. “I think it’s a shame that that particular man is endorsing him and very friendly with him. You can see there’s a relationship. He blew up the World Trade Center, right?”

Questioned on why he pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a Chinese-Canadian citizen who US authorities said failed to report suspicious transactions with organizations including Hamas, al-Qaeda, and child abuse websites, Trump admitted, “I don’t know who he is.”

“I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that... and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt,” he added, while noting some of his children were involved with crypto-trading.

Zhao quit in 2023 as Binance chief after the company pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and paid a penalty of $4.3 billion.