The Wall Street Journal just took a hard swing at Donald Trump—and it landed. In a sharply worded editorial, the paper’s conservative board blasted Trump for telling Israel to call off Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial.
“Trump tries to issue a pardon—in Israel,” the board wrote. “But it isn’t his country.”
Trump had gone on a Truth Social tirade, comparing Netanyahu’s corruption case to his own legal problems in the U.S. He didn’t mince words. “LET BIBI GO, HE’S GOT A BIG JOB TO DO!” he shouted in all caps, calling the Israeli proceedings a “POLITICAL WITCH HUNT.”
But the Journal wasn’t amused. The board said Trump had no business interfering in Israel’s legal system, even if some of the charges against Netanyahu “appear weak.”
“We doubt Mr. Trump is familiar with the details of the Netanyahu case, nor should he be,” the editorial said. “It isn’t America’s place to say, as Mr. Trump has, that ‘Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY,’ or to threaten, ‘We are not going to stand for this’ after mentioning U.S. military aid.”
The board made it clear: U.S. aid to Israel is meant for security and strategy—not to bail out political allies. “That aid furthers a strategic purpose, as all the world saw this June in Iran, not a political one.”
And the criticism didn’t stop with Trump. The Journal also slammed Netanyahu’s inner circle for reportedly urging Trump to pressure Israel’s own prosecutors—something they warned would damage the country’s democracy.
“Mr. Netanyahu thanked Mr. Trump for his support, and some in his Likud party have encouraged the President to sanction Israel’s Attorney General and prosecutors,” the board wrote. “This is a bad case of short-term thinking, and the real loser would be Israeli sovereignty.”
Bottom line? The Wall Street Journal just told Trump to stay in his lane—and stay out of Israel’s justice system.
