Trump Fires Back as Mamdani Doubles Down

On today's show, President Trump fires back as Mayor Mamdami doubles down. Keeping you informed and engaged.

Now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now, your host, Logan Secular.

Welcome to Sekulow. We got a great show for you today. This is Logan Secula. Will Haynes in the studio. My brother Jordan's going to be joining us as well.

I would usually say give us a call, but right now our phone lines are down. We've had some power issues this morning.

So if you want to get a comment, and a great place to do it would be either on YouTube or Rumble. Do it today. I'll make sure we have our team monitoring those comments and we can take them as if they're calls today.

So again, that is on YouTube or Rumble. Yesterday, we talked about Mayor Mandani, and of course, His efforts, and at least his threats, if you will, to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of course, kind of been laughed off even a bit by President Trump, who put out a statement saying, that ain't gonna happen. But at the same time Mayor of New York City. Responded pretty aggressively. This is what President Trump had to say on Truth Social.

He said: Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested in any way, shape, or form while the United States of America. He's fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protesters. It spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers and others. The only ones that should be arrested are people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction, something that should have been dealt with years ago by previous Presidents, President Donald J. Trump.

But, Will, that wasn't where it ended because they again, once again, asked. the mayor of New York City to respond. to this and Once again, gotta give it to him, didn't back down. That's right. This was in front of a boudega in New York where he was going over this small business initiative he was trying to do where completely unrelated to it.

It had to do with permitting, which actually, when you think about it, he was like, hey, it's ridiculous. If you sell hot food and cold food, you want a little nice cold treat? In New York, it's ridiculous. You have to get two separate permits. You know, that's actually something the mayor should probably be looking at, an ordinance where permitting can be rolled back to make it more streamlined, simplified for a small business owner.

Don't have a problem with that. But he was asked at this presser about the statements that were in that interview from the New York Times. And this is what the mayor responded with: bite 10. When it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu, we're speaking about someone who's the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. And he's the subject of this arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity, for war crimes, and he's the architect of the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza as Israel's Prime Minister.

These are not facts of my personal assessment, they are facts of public record. And I believe that. When someone is charged with an international criminal court warrant, it's something that should be taken seriously, whether it's Benjamin Netanyahu or it's Vladimir Putin or whomever else. What I've also made clear is that my administration will follow all applicable local laws. That is our commitment.

That is something that we will follow through on when it comes to an adherence to local law. And that's all I have to add on that. And we'll get into this in the next segment about the reality of this. But once again, what we're looking at here from the mayor is him going very aggressively, Jordan, and trying to, in one way, take the law into his own hands by going after the sitting prime minister of Israel. Yeah, that's right.

And one thing we do know is that his attorneys can look all they want, but there is no authority for a mayor of any city.

So any municipal leader, let's say at least cut him down to what he is. It's a big city. It's an important role. But he is a mayor, no different than any other mayor. We don't agree with the Rome doctrine.

Okay, we did not sign. We're not signatories to the Rome Treaty, which is what created the International Criminal Court. Gives them any authority. Right.

So they have no authority. No American official or municipal official has any authority to arrest someone in the United States and then hand them over to an international legal institution, which both our country and the person you're arresting does not sign on to as a legitimate court.

So when he says, I'm going to follow any local laws that I need to, that essentially means it's not just local laws. He should be following other treaties the United States is a signatory on that we'll talk about in the next segment. All right, so much coming up. Again, phone lines are down right now.

So once you get your comments in in the chat on YouTube or on Rumble, we are live right there, and I'll pull some of those to do, you know, in place of calls today. I'll let you know if those phone lines do come back up or are they back up? I know they're ringing, so we'll see. All right, we'll be back in just a minute on Sekulow. Welcome back to Secula.

We are. Gonna take your calls, that's right. I guess the power came back on. Things are going well right now. Cross your fingers.

Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110. I'd love to hear from you.

So, even if you put in one of those comments online, why not call in? We'd love to hear your voice, 1-800-684-3110. For those of you just joining right now, we are talking about the mayor of New York City, what he actually can do, as when questioned, double down on his effort. To say that he's going to proceed with whatever he can do to fulfill the International Courts, Criminal Court's order to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Etanyahu, and at the same point, equating him with Vladimir Putin.

Well, and once again, this is an individual, this mayor, that is, at the same time that he's going very aggressively on this, there was reporting that people within his office were trying to have meetings with Iranians when they were here for the when they're coming for the UN General Assembly. That raised a lot of questions about the, you know, is he trying to conduct foreign policy out of his office in New York, but says nothing about even that. Doesn't even try to equate with all the crimes against humanity and atrocities that we've seen from the Iranian people that come to the UN General Assembly every time because of the way the laws are structured and the agreements that we have as the United States with other countries. But here's where I'm concerned as well, because he. Brings this up and keeps saying this.

We are looking into it. We are going to make sure that we follow the law and that it's an adherence to the local law. It makes me wonder, Jordan, if he's trying to either find a loophole or also try to have this push to pick the fight with the President and the federal government of saying, look, we are going to pass a local ordinance that says the municipality of New York will acknowledge and recognize arrest warrants by the ICC, trying to subvert the federal government, jump over that, and go straight to the ICC. He's talked a lot about international law in his campaign. We know that even the Marxist mindset that he has is a more globalistic legal framework than the federal government having supremacy over the municipalities.

So when you see this, it isn't that far of a leap to think. Oh no, he may try something here. And it's going to go to courts, but it also gives him that political thing of look, and they sued me. The Trump administration came after me. Right.

And so I could see him saying, his legal advisors coming to him with all the same legal analysis we're giving you and saying, no, you don't have this authority. But what if he issues to the NYPD, an arrest warrant goes out? And then you've got our federal and secret service and our other military that comes in to secure the United Nations during General Assembly weeks because of all these world leaders being there.

Now, their entire job, they're going to be distracted, right? Because instead of focusing on everyone, They're going to have to focus on what the NYPD might be trying to do to another country's leader. And that's when you've got this agreement to be part of the UN under Article 4 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

Okay, because we want to be able to bring people together without fear that by showing up at the UN, you're going to be arrested and thrown into the International Criminal Court. And in that article, it says it very clearly. It's a treaty to which the United States is a party and that state officials enjoy immunity when they come to New York to conduct business at the UN.

So it's not like he's just, even if we were a member of the ICC, if you're coming to New York for purposes of the United Nations, that is not the same as just showing up in New York to meet with supporters or pro-Israel groups. This is explicit that when you do show up at these UN meetings, you are here to conduct business of the United Nations and that you are not able then to overstep. Mm-hmm. That this is the supreme law, right here.

So, this is the supreme rule while the General Assembly is ongoing, or else there'd be way too many countries. The UN system in itself could not function because you could not have adversaries ever in the same room, which is the whole point of the UN is to get adversaries in the same room to prevent actual war. Talk it out, right? And here's kind of the hypocrisy on full display that I think we should talk a little bit about. The left for so long has been saying President Trump wants to use the Department of Justice as his own police force to go after and prosecute his political enemies, right?

That's been the criticism of the entire President's regime and administration. Here's the question, though. Since when did the mayor of New York start dictating who gets arrested by the NYPD? No, he should have, again. Because of international politics, really, he's talking about international policy disagreements.

Again, mayor of New York is a huge position. I don't want to take away from that. But when it comes to foreign policy, other than bringing business to New York and some of those other things that they do to promote the city and travel, and this is a great place to live, this is a great place to have your company or your business, or large events, they don't have foreign policy power. And so the NYPD, imagine this, okay? The mayor's job.

When the UN comes to New York during the General Assembly, is to actually have the local NYPD. Work with. Work with the governments of all these countries, including Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, to make sure. That they would not be subject to an arrest warrant at places like the ICC while they are attending the United Nations General Assembly. Here's what makes me nervous, though, guys.

This is what makes me nervous. Does this mean that the only time that we think Prime Minister Netanyahu is safe to travel? is in cities or states that would not ask Or would not tell their police departments to arrest him and have him extradited. We could actually see that happen in, what is it, Los Angeles, or could you see that happen in other cities across the country?

So, this idea is that while the UN, I think, provides the most protection, if you are Benjamin Netanyahu or any other government official, and in fact, that's Mondami's role, is to actually assist in protecting those officials who are visiting. What is that saying about the state of the United States right now that you'd have to pick and choose where our strongest ally and the Middle East leader can go? Without fear of being arrested and thrown into a place you don't want to be. I've been there before, the International Criminal Court in The Hague. I think we should play this as well because this is CNN.

This is Ellie Hoenig, who, when it comes to legal analysis, is very good, even if he is on CNN and sometimes lets that buy a show. But this, once again, just the entire question here: why is the mayor of New York weighing into law enforcement questions? Like, this shouldn't even be his purview. Let's go ahead and play byte 16 from Ellie Hoenig on CNN just yesterday. First of all, the mayor of New York City has zero law enforcement authority.

He does not tell the Manhattan DA, the NYPD, who to arrest, who to indict. Second of all, this warrant that we're talking about here was issued by the ICC, the International Criminal Court, which we are not signatories to here in the United States.

So that warrant issued by the ICC has zero legal effect here in the United States. In fact, we have a federal law here in the U.S. passed 24 years ago that says, if necessary, the President can send military troops to pull our people and our allies out of the ICC.

So that warrant has zero impact. And third and finally, Brianna, the Constitution is quite clear that the conduct of foreign diplomacy, foreign affairs is entirely up to the federal government. It's certainly not up to local and county governments in New York City or elsewhere.

So I know the mayor is having his best lawyers look at this right now. Let me save them some time. You do not have the authority to do this.

So at least as of right now, if you want to follow him, does not have the authority. To do it.

Now, Jordan, you've been to the ICC. I do think people need to understand what this experience is like. If they've not seen it before, if they've not experienced it before, because you were there, you know, obviously in support of Israel as they were having a lot of issues even back then. But this is a pretty dystopian vibe that you could get. It's almost like you're seeing things out of a futuristic movie where there is this criminal court of the one world.

Yes, and you've got these random cases and a random guy that gets mostly picked up in Africa and other places like that and are warlords. And you look at them and they're 26 years old and you realize that the top guys aren't the ones who are getting picked up. And it's also because, as you said, Logan, this kind of futuristic model that doesn't really function fully. You know what you do when you sit there? You, as an American, you say, one, thank God my country did not sign on to this treaty, even under immense pressure.

We thought this would be a good idea in the United States and ultimately decided, wait, wait, wait. Even though we don't like being the world's policeman, we kind of are.

So, with our military all over the world, any of these countries that we're fighting in could then say, well, because of this one action by the U.S. military and this one action, now we can arrest anyone connected to the U.S. military if they come. And they would. I mean, what?

South Africa has made that very case at the ICC. And I will tell you.

So, first, you again, you would thank God that you didn't sign that treaty as Americans. Second, you thank God for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I mean, because when you were there, toss all of that kind of procedure out the window, and then you just disappear if you're found guilty into this semi-governmental hunger games like. Prison, which is like part of the forgotten people, almost. I mean, it's very, it's not the kind of system you may imagine the European setting up.

It's something that looks like out of a bad sci-fi movie. Yeah, I mean, everyone's in these robes and these white, sterile rooms. It's very bizarre. Yeah, there's a picture on the screen how it looks modern, but at the same time, they're in the like historic robes. It gives a weird vibe.

There's the most horrendous atrocities in these rooms with these robes and computers and who's on what side, and you can be on those sides. And it's again. Thank God that we have a system, and thank God we aren't part of this one. Hey, I did want to tell you, phone lines are open. I want you to be a part of the conversation today at 1-800-684-30-110.

We are also, by the way, Halfway through our month, our big month here right now, and this specifically, that we haven't talked a lot about it, you're gonna hear about it a little bit later. Is our Defend the Defenceless Week, of course, fighting for our pro-life values and views? Whether you are the person on the street protesting or whether you are trying to seek attention at a crisis pregnancy center or pregnancy resource center, we want to be there for you.

So go to aclj.org, we'll be right back. Welcome back to Secular. Like I said, our phone lines are back open, and we're going to be taking a lot more calls coming up in some future segments.

So, get on hold already: 1-800-684-3110. As I said earlier, this is our Defend the Defenseless week. This is when we're talking about a lot of our pro-life work. Of course, we are going to give you the news of the day of what's happening and all of that, and give you our coverage and our analysis of it. But I want you to understand the legal side of the ACLJ and some of the work that we've been doing, even historically.

This is a great piece our team put together.

So, I encourage you to kind of sit back, relax, and enjoy this and understand this is some of the work the ACLJ has been a part of in the pro-life world over the last few years. This stuff is still happening. Again, right here in the United States of America. Take a look. I'm Jane Keeney.

About four years ago, when I was a senior in high school, I got kicked out of the Smithsonian Museum for wearing a pro-life hat. The Smithsonian isn't just one museum. It's 21 of them, spread across the country and visited by nearly 30 million people every single year. And it's not a private company. More than a billion dollars of its budget comes directly from the federal government.

meaning it belongs, in a very real sense, to the American people. to all of us. But sometimes there is a question of whether an institution funded by our tax dollars can be trusted to treat every American, every student. every family the same, no matter what they believe. In the winter of 2023, under the Biden administration, that trust is exactly what was tested.

Anti-abortion activists gathered on the National Mall today for the annual March for Life. It was the first time the march has been held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. My sister, myself, and then a couple other students from my school, Our Lady of the Rosary, were very much like passionate about the pro-life cause, and so we went up to DC. This was the first year where we actually were fighting in a post-Roe era.

And so we were all super excited to go and be a part of this huge group of Christians and pro-life activists. It was packed. It was totally slammed. There were so many students from so many different groups, and we weren't the only group that used neon beanies to identify each other. That's a pretty common thing that they do.

So we had these beanies that our group wore. We figured that was a good way to keep each other like, you can see each other in a crowd with this kind of like neon blue. Kept each other together in a group, and we also got to say, hey, we're here for the March for Life by putting Rosary Pro-Life on the beanie. The day that we went to the Smithsonian, that was a little bit of like free time that we got kind of after the big programming of the March for Life.

So there were about a dozen of us in the Air and Space Museum, a couple more who were checking out other museums in the area. We initially walked through security. We were in a pretty big group, about a dozen students total wearing these pro-life beanies. We walked through security, we were told, oh, remove your hat for a second, you know, to get through the metal detector, whatnot. It sounded like kind of normal procedure, and then we were.

Put our hats back on, walked through the museum just fine, and then into a couple different areas. It was like the Wright Brothers area of the Air and Space Museum. We had a different security guard circle back to myself and my group while we were sitting kind of by the escalator figuring out what we wanted to do next. He walked up to us. Rubbed his hands together and said, Y'all are about to make my day.

Take the hats off. This is a neutral zone. You can't have that kind of inflammatory message on, or you need to leave. What is so egregious about what happened at the museum is that while these students were singled out and targeted, told to remove their hats because they said the words pro-life on them. People all around the museum were wearing other hats, many of which contained what you might consider to be political speech.

Like we just wanted to look at the Air and Space Museum. We weren't even there to, we weren't protesting, we weren't doing anything, we were just walking around looking at the exhibits, enjoying our nation's capital. And we were made to feel like delinquents for having a Christian message on a piece of clothing. What set this case apart is one, this was the federal government, and they're actually tasked with protecting the rights of the Americans.

However, here they targeted Americans and engaged in illegal activity. Our parents, instead of saying, oh, well, it's not a big deal, whatever, you got to see most of the museum, they were. Outrage. And so she posted a picture on social media. It went kind of viral of our beanies, our story, and the ACLJ helped us out and we started the fight.

At least one student from two separate groups reached out to the ACLJ. Indicating that this actually took place at two different federal buildings on the same day within hours of one another. That signaled to us that this was a coordinated attack. This was not a single mistake. We immediately filed lawsuits.

One lawsuit was filed against the National Air and Space Museum, one of the Smithsonians. We alleged the violation of the First Amendment, which guarantees protection of free speech. The second is the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal treatment under the law. And the third claim alleged in the lawsuit was the violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RIFRA, which restricts or prohibits the federal government from placing a substantial burden on religious exercise. And that is precisely what happened here.

They dragged this issue on. That's kind of what the government does. They try to tire you out with the legal battle they want you to give up. Our lawsuit served several important purposes. The first is to create a record of what occurred.

Yeah.

So that In the future, there's no dispute. This happened, it was a violation. I feel like the desire for answers and the desire for clarity of that situation and what really happened there and why they came after us like that, that was one thing that motivated me to keep through the fight. And so, the settlement agreement that we reached in this case, the Smithsonian will maintain a policy that ensures that their visitors are allowed to wear clothing and hats and other attire that contain religious and political speech and that they will not be targeted or singled out for that speech or discriminated against. We did get an apology and we were told that we could come back and that we would never have this problem again and that students who wear these hats will never be asked to leave.

I will never let my speech be chilled by local, federal, any government official because it is absolutely my right as an American to express my speech in the way that I see fit, especially the pro-life message, which is one of the most, if not the most important message in modern America. This lawsuit protects the rights of future Americans who visit federal buildings every single day. If this thing ever happens again, or anything like this ever happens again, ACLJ stands ready to address it immediately. and to protect the rights of American citizens. All right, again, that's the incredible work the ACLJ team has done over the years.

That's just a small sampling, that's just one story. Of the work and the pro-life work that our team has been doing for, again, for decades. But remember that this stuff is still happening. And once again, I like seeing work like that and videos like that where you get to actually hear from the client like that. That was a teenage girl, a high school student that was targeted because of a hat that she wore to the march for life.

And when we talk about you stand with these people when you give to the ACLJ, when you support this work. It's not just standing with the organization and our attorneys, but it is standing with that young girl who was brave and courageous and had knew her rights and knew that this is not okay for the Smithsonian to be targeting us like this. That is who you are standing with when you give to the ACLJ.

So I'm going to ask you in this last minute of our first half hour. I know some of you lose this after the half an hour, but I encourage you if you want to enjoy a full hour, maybe a television style presentation, join us on aclj.org, on YouTube, or on Rumble. We're there right now, Facebook, broadcasting live.

However, get your podcast. And that's at 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Work your way back from there. And of course, archived as soon as the show is over.

But I'm going to ask you, when we take this really short break, which is just a minute. Let's put up that QR code on screen right now. Yep, scan that QR code or go to aclj.org right now. All donations are matched.

So right now. Double your impact, be a part of the ACLJ. Defend the defenseless during this special week dedicated to our pro-life work. I encourage you to go to aclj.org right now. That's aclj.org.

And make any donation of any kind and it will be effectively doubled right now. If you become a champion, someone that gives monthly your first donation will still be matched. We'll be right back. Second half hour coming up, less than a minute. Yeah.

Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome back to Sekulow. The second half hour of our show continues right now.

Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-30110. For those just joining us, we are discussing at length President Trump and Mayor Mundami's issues they've had over. The want to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Later this year, again, September, right? That's a good thing. Just in a couple months.

When they will be here for the UN and Mayor Mondays, they're looking for all the different options they can to make sure that we stand with Europe or with international criminal court law. That's what you want to hear. Coming from one of our elected leaders here in the United States of America. Let's go to Bill in Wyoming online too. Bill, you're on the air.

Yeah, thanks for taking Every time I listen to this ma'am person, Mamdomi, or whatever you want to pronounce it, it seems to me that the more and more he talks, the less and less he really knows about being a leader, let alone being in government or anything like that. Am I wrong? Yeah, I mean, Bill, I think one of the things that I said early on was not that I was going to be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I was a bit more like, all right, maybe these are campaign rhetoric talk, and this isn't going to be the guy who's actually running one of the biggest cities on the planet Earth, and maybe one of the most important cities clearly in the world. That would be maybe just political rhetoric. And time and time has shown that I'm wrong.

And that though he was willing to meet with President Trump, and I actually thought that was going to be like a turning point. Again, he seems to double down and triple down on sort of these ridiculous claims and doesn't seem to address what's going on in his city. When, again, last time I was there, Firebombing outside of his house. What goes on yesterday? Another explosive device is launched, and people are getting killed.

And look, I love New York City. I fight for New York City, but this is where we're at.

Well, once again, here's also a little bit of the difference here: Bill. He may not understand anything about leadership, but he is the leader of the left right now. He is the one that has been the kingmaker when it comes to a lot of these house races, unseating 30-year far-left progressive members of the House, like that one in Denver, that was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

So, about as far left as currently you could get within the House of Representatives. That individual was unseated. After a 30-year career, be by the candidate endorsed by the DSA and by the mayor of New York. He is the kingmaker.

So he may not know about leadership, but he is the leader, and they are following his marching orders when it comes to making the party of the Democrats as progressive, as liberal, and honestly as socialist as he wants it to be. We're not done seeing this play out. And his leadership, as poor as it may be, is going to continue.

Well, maybe Bill inspired you to call in. I would encourage you to call in right now. In the next segment, Rick Cornell's going to be joining us. And then following that, I want to hear from you.

So go ahead and get on hold, get in line. That's at 1-800-684-3110. If you're joining us online on YouTube, you can get your comments into there as well. But it really helps to hear from you. I would love to do it.

1-800-684-3110. If your thoughts on not only. The mayor of New York's comments about this, but even President Trump's, you know, saying this ain't happening. That we are not going to do this to one of our greatest partners with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. Of course, that's oddly controversial right now, whether you're on the right or the left, to even stand up.

For Israel in general.

So give me a call. Let me know what your thoughts are. Again, we only have about a minute left in this segment before we take a quick break. I have to tell you, it is defend the defenseless week. I'm going to encourage you once again: if you're just joining us right now, this is our conversation, our media efforts, our legal efforts.

For pro-life and pro-life laws and pro-life Americans, whether that is in Massachusetts where today. is a big response deadline for a lawsuit we've been working on for years. Where they have been trying to slander and shut down these pro-life pregnancy centers from the state, and we've been a part of that again firsthand. Saw that happen. Uh, we have uh there's a whole list of things here, everybody.

We only got 40 seconds, so I can go through all the different pro-life laws that we're working on right now and the lawsuits we're working on. But so much of this is only because people like you support the work.

So, instead of me going through this laundry list here, I want you to just think about supporting the work of the ACLJ. Do it today again. We promote it heavily during these kind of weeks and these kind of months, the Liberty Drive, because donations are doubled. There's another ACLJ member, an ACLJ donor, a champion ready to unlock their pledge only if you donate at any level today. That's at aclj.org/slash defend or scan that QR code you see on the screen.

Again, phone lines are open: 1-800-68-43110. I'm going to take as many calls as I possibly can. Coming up, Rick Grinnell. Welcome back to Sec Killo. Get in line right now.

1-800-684-3110. Got two lines open, but you know what?

Some are being screened right now, and you never know.

Sometimes they're not kind to the phone screener and they don't make it up.

So, you know what? We may have some more lines open up for you.

So, give me a call. Keep it ringing. 1-800-684-3110. Rick Rinnell's joining us right now, Will. And Rick, it's obviously been a busy time.

We were talking a bit about what's going on in New York City, but Will, I know you want to pivot a little bit. That's right. So, right now, this morning, the President was meeting with the President of Lebanon, and this is ongoing as this multi-front conflict that's been taking place as the proxy Hezbollah has been attacking Israel throughout the conflict with Iran. And we know that the President always tries diplomacy first. That has kind of been on display for everyone to see.

Here is when a reporter asked President Trump about if he's speaking with Hezbollah. Let's play by 27. You said in previous interviews that you're speaking to Hezbollah. I wouldn't say that, but I would speak to Hezbollah. I speak to everybody.

I'll speak to people that a lot of people think I shouldn't be speaking to, and things work out. Mr. President told me that. I would say this. If the President wanted me to speak to Hezbollah, you know, he's lived with Hezbollah for a long time.

And if the President wanted me to speak to Hezbollah, I would. I would speak to you. Rick, we see there obviously the different style of President Trump than previous administrations, where he is willing to talk to even a terrorist group, even to try and de-escalate what's going on in the region. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that as we talk about the way forward in the Middle East.

Well, I worked at the UN for eight years, and I actually believe very strongly that talking is a tactic. It's not a goal. It's not what Is a reward. I reject the idea that talking to somebody is somehow. Uh a reward.

No one believes that Donald Trump is going to talk to someone on the opposite side of an issue or an enemy or a terrorist group. or or even allies. No one believes that when President Trump goes into a conversation that somehow he's not going to be tough. He's not going to defend America, American values, and the American national security. When you go in and you speak directly to to an opponent, to a terrorist group.

you really have the ability to start a conversation Where the other side knows exactly what the United States of America, the most powerful country in the world. Expects. And I believe that this is diplomacy. This is exactly what should be done when there is a conflict. We had a President, Joe Biden.

who believe that ignoring another party. He didn't speak to Putin for years. And somehow the Democrats believed that that was a good thing and that somehow we were punishing Russia. I actually think the opposite is true. I think it's really dangerous when you decide not to speak to somebody.

Speak to somebody rationally but clearly and let them know exactly what America expects.

Well, and along those same lines, what we've seen is even if Lebanon isn't to an Abraham Accords kind of status yet of recognizing Israel, we have seen something remarkable, and that is where the government of Lebanon is actually talking with the government of Israel and coming to agreements. And this has been brokered by the President. And this is something that was. Unthinkable, even just a few years ago. And even really during the first term, that was what something you would hope they could get to as you started to see the Abraham Accords unfold.

But now, even when deals aren't finalized with more countries, even though the President teases that all the time, the fact that he could get the government of Lebanon, which would have been politically toxic for them, as we know how much strength Hezbollah has, even as a political force within that country. They are now open about their discussions with the government of Israel and ways to disarm and push back Hezbollah.

So, even right there, the proof of not just the President talking with others. But getting others to talk to each other shows that that can be a method that can work, even if it's not the end game, even if it's not the goal, as you said, just getting people to talk. That right there is showing that the tactic can lead to real results. Yeah, look uh Ending the war in Gaza was such a positive move for the region. Uh and and look at what's happening in Syria.

you have a country that was a pariah state Not that long ago, under total sanctions, President Trump comes in, drops the sanctions on Syria and really begins to change that country. The Russians are largely out of Syria now. We still have deep ties with Iran in Syria. But it's now Lebanon's turn. And Lebanon is a very difficult place We're going to have to deal with the Lebanese Army, which has traditionally been the power base.

And Hezbollah has always played a really destabilizing role there. And Israel is right. To be very concerned about not dealing with Hezbollah in their neighbor country, Lebanon. And so it's time that Lebanon stand up gets the help that it needs to be able to do this. I'm a little skeptical because we've been through many leaderships in Lebanon.

But it's definitely worth talking and trying once again to try to push out Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy, from Lebanon. Rick, you obviously worked at the UN. We've spent a lot of time working at the UN. I wanted to get your thoughts before we wrap up with you on the mayor of New York and his claims of really doubling down and tripling down each time he's asked about it about wanting to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu. Obviously, that's maybe not within his realm of decision-making right now, but is talking a big game, is talking about it at the point of saying they're looking at all legal options to do such.

And of course, citing the International Criminal Court as someone who's worked there, who's been there. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that before we let you go. I mean, look, the mayor of New York City is a radical. He's causing problems by having this type of policy. It's ridiculous.

I'm thankful President Trump came out and said it's not going to happen. Uh, Mayor Mamdani needs to stop trying to do foreign policy and concentrate on New York City and crime and delivering services. That's what a mayor is supposed to do. He needs to stop pretending like he's a Middle East expert. Will was saying he was at the time giving a A speech, a proposal on whether they can have a limited permitting and saying, you know what, let's let Bodegas not have to go through another additional permitting to have hot and cold food.

And I go, okay, yeah, that's what a mayor should be doing. But of course, he decides he's going to weigh in on international criminal court. Yeah, he can't help himself. He really hates Israel. He hates Netanyahu.

He's a radical, and he's a dangerous radical. And I hope that the people of New York City are seen in just how radical he is. We'll see. We'll see about that, Rick. Thanks, Billy.

Got anything else you want to hit? No, I did want to say something.

Someone just dropped off the line. I hope they're still listening because I did want to get to this. This goes back to the work of the ACLJ. They had a question about the Calvary Chapel case. And that was the case, if you remember, that was before we went to the Supreme Court asking them to take up the case where California had levied $1.2 million in fines on them for COVID violations.

And we were taking it to the Supreme Court to get that done away with, fighting back against what the Newsome regime has done there. But. We don't have an answer yet, but what we can say is something is happening because the Supreme Court term is over. And normally, if they deny it, you're getting an order. The cert is denied.

They're not taking the case up. Or if it's granted, you get that. They've done nothing. They haven't rescheduled it.

So we also know there's a case that has similar law that can be addressed. We filed in that on behalf of our client, but that case is in the order of things, what happened before. We think that they could be waiting to see the outcome of that case before they do anything with the disposition of the Calvary Chapel case. But we know that something at the Supreme Court is happening. That's right.

So if you've got a case that's similar, but not necessarily one that would be consolidated, so it's not exactly on point, but it would kind of be very telling to what this case, the Calvary Chapel case could be, Will. What the courts do, they will hold it. They will hold it until the case they believe has some bearing on it is done and the Supreme Court opinion is out.

So that case is very much alive, the Calvary Chapel case at the U.S. Supreme Court as we speak now. And we will keep everyone updated. But as you can imagine, with the number of cases that come in, sometimes you get ones that, again, they're not the type that you'd put together necessarily, but they're so close that the one that came in earlier should probably be disposed of so that the court keeps some kind of, you know, again, something you can actually follow and uniformity, if you will. in how they interpret these laws.

And so that's why I think our case No dismissal. The question is: what happens after that first case goes through? And so, when you support the ACLJ, that work on that case is still ongoing. We are still fighting for that at the Supreme Court for justice there. That's right.

And you can double today. Go to aclj.org and have your donation doubled. Look, we get back. I want to hear from you. We got two lines still open.

Give me a call right now: 1-800-684-3110. Last time to get yourself on the air today, we'll be at 1-800-684-3110. 1-0-1-800-684-3110. Have your voice heard today. And again, if you want to support the work, do it right now, aclj.org.

Be right back with your calls and your comments. just a moment. Welcome back to Sekulow. We are going to take your calls and comments today at 1-800-684-30110. Last segment of the day, we are live.

We are joined by our friend Clayton Wood. Go to ClaytonSwood.com. Clayton is ACLJ alumni. He's also an attorney, a pastor, non-profit leader, and has been a pretty viral writer right now on Facebook or on. You can find his substab.

You can go to claytonswood.com. I wanted him to come in and chime in. He's just been watching and sitting over here with us today. I said, Immediately, chime in today and let people know about you because millions and millions of people are reading your stuff each and every month. Tens of millions of people.

It's pretty wild.

So we're excited about that. We're going to take some calls. I'm gonna let Clayton chime in and then also give you some promo here.

So we'll get to that as well. Let's kick it off. Let's go. Will he want to go with first? Let's go to Charlie in Illinois on 9-1.

Watch it on Rumble. Go ahead, Charlie. All right, guys. I just want to be real quick. I want to paint out a what if scenario and see what you think about it.

Since we don't recognize our federal government doesn't recognize the ICC, we're not signatures.

So if B.B. Netanyahu flew here for an event into New York and Mayor Madame's police department arrested him, could they not be charged with kidnapping? And would they try to use qualified immunity to get out of it? I feel like one, the actual arrest portion of this hypothetical thing would never happen. He's traveling with a large entourage of security.

There's so much that goes through even the state protection, the state department, and the federal protection of visiting diplomats. Even if it's not for the UN, say it's for just another event that he's invited to in New York City. I don't think that would ever get to that point because it would become an international incident of epic proportions at that point. I agree. I mean, I think this is, again, he is.

Not even saying he can do it because he's got it with his attorneys and his attorneys are going to at least tell him you don't really have the ability to do this.

So, what would happen if you did it? That's when they'd have to have those discussions. Will, like, what would be the problems could this cause? Would the NYPD have to ignore your illegal order to the point of could this cause friction between the NYPD and other U.S. law enforcement entities during a major event where security is a priority?

And again, it doesn't take a lot of legal research to see he has no ground to stand on and absolutely no authority to carry out or ask his police department to carry out this kind of action. Yeah, Clayton, I wanted to get your thoughts as well. You know, you write, like I said, these very extensive essay-style, maybe people think of them as Facebook posts or as substack articles, but you're talking about thousands, thousands of words.

So people want to get educated on a lot of these topics. You are providing it for them right now. And you just did one on Iran over the last couple of days, and we're seeing that kind of. Over and over again.

So, well, we may be able to talk. Maybe a bit top level. Of what the you know, kind of the ridiculousness of something like this is. If you want to dive a little deeper, it's a great place for people to read your content and really get educated. You gotta just kind of strap in for it because sometimes it's it's they're long reads, but uh, everyone comes away very informed from them.

Thank you so much for having me. And it's really exciting. Guys, I am the only person, I think, that you can find who's been a roommate to both Jordan and Logan at one time in our lives.

So I enjoy writing a lot about the Middle East right now. The signal, and you mentioned before giving Mamdami the benefit of the doubt early in his time, the signal that's really important to realize is this is what he wants to do with power. He doesn't currently have the power to do it, but to go after, it's a moral inversion that's happening over and over again, saying that Netanyahu is a war criminal while cozying up to actual terrorists. And so this moral inversion is something that you can pay attention to, you can watch, and it's happening societally over and over again. People trying to make the bad guy the good guy, make the good guy the bad guy.

Well, and I want to echo what Logan said earlier about the writing that Clayton does, is that if you watch this broadcast and you like long form where we get into the details, we discuss and talk about not just. Headlines for you, but really dig deep. That's what his writings do. And once again, clayton swood.com is where you can find it. But let's go and take this caller on line two, Joe from Kentucky, about this very issue.

You're on Sekulow. Joe, are you there? Yeah.

Go ahead. I just want to know how companies can spend the New York taxpayers' money. Joe asked a question that he thinks it's ridiculous that they're spending the taxpayers' money. On this type of threat. Again, at the same time, he's making a comment saying, Hey, we need to work on permitting, making it easier for bodega owners to serve hot and cold food.

Again, what you expect a mayor to be doing. And their legal team to look at kind of figuring out how to do help small businesses. But at the same time, he's like, there's a world leader I don't like coming to town. This is the weird part. You're having a mayor's legal team.

And again, not to put down the mayor of New York City. It's a major position, but foreign policy, really, other than bringing business, bringing big events, having the UN there, and making it kind of a shining example for the world, instead of saying, you come here, I disagree with you politically, so I'm going to have you arrested. That's a little bit different of a symbol of New York.

So he's got his legal team, which has no business and probably has no training in the research that they're doing. Thank God it's just written very clearly as we read it out to you today in two just small one sentence provisions each that he doesn't have the authority to do this and that the U.S., by being a member of the United Nations, can't do this either.

So if the U.S. The US government can't do it. New York City certainly can't do it. Would he still try to pick the fight? Is the question.

Is he willing to pit the NYPD versus federal, and including our U.S. military who's there to secure, and U.N. security? Yeah, I want to take Susan really quick in Maryland because I think this sets up a conversation that Clayton has a lot on his blog and a lot of what he's talking about. Let's go to Susan in Maryland.

Yeah.

Okay, guys, here we go. Here goes, Trump cannot afford to lose the conservative vote. That's the reality. And those that support Israel. This is crazy thinking.

Trump must publicly condemn Mendami Trump knows how to silence the man Johnny. Yeah.

I mean, Susan. I'm only cutting you off because, like, President Trump did put out a statement pretty much saying this is ridiculous. Benjamin Netanyahu is not going to be arrested. But the rising, and claim we only got a couple minutes here, but you talk a lot about the rising conservative right that is turning on Israel. Yeah.

Yeah, there's a guy who's a Russian Dugan. And again, if you want to read just a lot of essays about this, I'm writing about it a lot because it's coming up a lot. It's a very strange thing. And none of us in this room think that Israel is perfect, but we know that Israel is by far the best ally that the United States has in the Middle East. It's like, is it the perfect place in the same way that it is in America to be an evangelical Christian?

No. Is it better than everyone else in the entire region by miles and miles? Absolutely. And so, strong Christian support for Israel does not mean that you say, Everything Israel does is perfect. It's especially something where, if you know more and more about it, it makes sense that this is the only solid ally we have who has a democracy that allows for Arabs.

For Christians, for Muslims to all serve, it has freedom of religion, and you have people, and I guess I shouldn't call out names here on your radio show, you have famous people on the right. Who are now cozying up to Muslim leaders who have no religious freedom and pretending that they do and trying to shame Israel and it's a moral inversion. And I'm thankful very much for the work that you guys do in standing against that and speaking the truth. And I want to encourage people, again, go to claytonswood.com. You're going to be able to read all of his great writings and connect with him on social media.

Millions, tens of millions of people do. But Jordan, speaking of people who also support Israel and Tennessee. ACLJ Action, you saw Marsha Blackburn in studio with us yesterday, the senator running for governor of Tennessee and her campaign, her Tennessee first campaign. You saw about 11 minutes of our sit-down with her, but we actually were with her for about 27 and we kept the cameras going and the sound. You can watch it now at ACLJ Action's Facebook page.

So go to ACLJ Action on Facebook, like the page, join the page, and then you can see the additional 16-minute discussion.

So nearly 30 minutes of questions and back and forth without commercials with Senator Blackburn, also running for governor of Tennessee. That's at ACLJ. CLJ Actions Facebook up today. Yep, that's going to do it for today. Talk to you, Marl.