Trump Renews Call For Israel To Pardon Teflon Bibi, The "Wartime Prime Minister"

President Trump has renewed US pressure on some Israeli government decision-makers to grant a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he's still battling multiple corruption charges, at a moment he has ordered the armed forces to be engaged in several fronts, including in Lebanon. 

Trump told the Israeli outlet Kan News on Sunday, "Tell your president to pardon Bibi. He's a wartime prime minister. They wouldn’t have Israel if it wasn’t for me and Bibi in that order. You want to have a PM that can focus on the war, not focus on nonsense."

via Reuters

Trump interestingly tried to flip the script with this statement, at a moment some conservative 'influencers' have increasingly attacked the White House for falling too much under Israeli influence. 

But the US President is here saying the White House controls the narrative on Israel and its fate, not the other way around. And yet it also clearly affirms the airtight relationship, at a moment US naval forces are bogged down in trying to open back up the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump is directing his request to pardon Netanyahu to the only top official with the power to make it happen - Israel's President Issac Herzog.

"I like the guy, Herzog," Trump said in the fresh remarks. "He will be a national hero if he gives Bibi a pardon. I will very much appreciate it." Trump has also long charged that this is a "witch hunt" by Bibi's enemies.

Netanyahu has long been accused, even within Israel, of seeking to prolong Israel's 'multi-front' wars in order to permanently delay the corruption trial and ensure his time in power is extended.

The trial focuses on three corruption cases - including charges of fraud and breach of trust, as well as charges of bribery.

The allegations range from illegally receiving expensive gifts based on political favors, to quid pro quo agreements with some Israeli media sources for more favorable coverage, to authorizing telecom-related regulatory decisions to benefit friends and allies.

In the meantime, Herzog says he does not plan to make a decision before ongoing negotiations with Netanyahu's legal team have reached conclusion. An October election loss for Netanyahu's Likud party means he could actually face jail time.

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However, he's long been called 'Teflon Bibi' for his ability to dodge major political bullets over the years and decades, while staying in power as the country's longest serving prime minister.

Tyler Durden Mon, 05/04/2026 - 14:40

Deutsche Bank's Woke ESG Whistleblower Denied Millions By SEC For Tattling To Press

In 2021, Deutsche Bank sustainability chief Desiree Fixler thought she was going to make millions after she blew the whistle with claims that the bank did not adhere to its goal of integrating ESG (environmental, social and governance) into all investment decisions. Fixler - who worked within the bank's DWS Group asset management arm - became a witness for the SEC, which fined the bank's asset-management arm $19 million in 2023.

And had she actually gotten the SEC reward of 10% - 30%, it would have amounted to millions... 

Desiree Fixler, former sustainability chief at DWS, poses for virtuous whistleblower PR in 2021. She's looking off into the distance imagining how she'll spend the reward money. 

...however, because Fixler (who was fired) ran to the Wall Street Journal before the SEC, they denied her a payout. 

The Wall Street Journal previously reported Fixler’s concerns about Deutsche Bank’s ESG business in an August 2021 article.

DWS misled investors about how it integrated ESG criteria into its investing process, Fixler told the Journal. DWS told clients that every investment team used ESG factors to make decisions. But she found a case in which Wirecard AG, a German payments-service provider that went bankrupt in a fraud scandal, ended up in an actively managed ESG fund, which was supposed to promote companies with good governance. 

She filed a complaint with the SEC three days after The Journal’s article appeared. She later spent over 100 hours walking the commission’s staff through Deutsche Bank’s ESG program and how investment firms screen for ESG risks in public companies, she said in an interview. 

The SEC acknowledged in an order denying Fixler’s award request that it opened its investigation based on her statements to the Journal. But it didn’t consider her cooperation to be “voluntary” because she didn’t approach the SEC first. -WSJ

"Where a claimant provides information to a media outlet, and commission staff learn of the allegations from the media outlet, a claimant has not provided the commission with information," the SEC wrote. 

Fixler and her lawyer, Stephen Kohn, say the SEC's definition of "voluntary" does not comport with a plain-English meaning of the term, and discourages whistleblowers from using traditional methods of spreading concerns about wrongdoing - the media. 

"This is a warning shot to every whistleblower who thinks about going to the press," said Fixler. 

Maybe she can escort kids to the Hunger Games to make ends meet when ESG finishes destroying the global economy?

Tyler Durden Mon, 05/04/2026 - 14:00