And Another Thing with Dave · Dave Smith

#448 Trump and the Failures of International Justice

October 21, 2025·32 min·3 clips

Dave and his guests react with disgust as they describe Trump running to Netanyahu's car 'like daddy's home' and pulling out his chair.

1. And Another Thing with Dave, episode 448, examines Trump's behavior toward Netanyahu and the structural limitations of international criminal justice. 2. The hosts are Dave (the primary host), Donnie, and a guest identified as Helitutor, with Donnie described as having a law enforcement background and Helitutor providing commentary throughout. 3. The episode's core question is whether Trump's unusually deferential physical treatment of Netanyahu signals a power imbalance, and why no international body has been able to act on the ICC arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu. 4. The opening segment focuses on video footage in which Trump is described as sprinting to meet Netanyahu's motorcade, opening doors, and pushing in his chair—behavior the hosts compare to 'a woman because daddy's home.' 5. Dave introduces a claim that Netanyahu brings a suitcase of dirty laundry to the White House as a power play, which the others initially dismiss but reconsider after watching the video. 6. The hosts observe that Trump behaved differently with Putin—pulling Putin close in what one host calls an 'alpha male move'—and note the contrast with his posture toward Netanyahu. 7. The conversation shifts when a host asks whether sheltering Netanyahu despite ICC arrest warrants constitutes 'harboring a fugitive' under international law. 8. The hosts use ChatGPT in real time to research Interpol's structure, finding it stands for International Criminal Police Organization and is described as the world's largest international police organization. 9. Live AI research reveals that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel because 'neither country is party to the Rome Statute' and neither has recognized the court's authority. 10. One host responds to this finding by listing former US presidents—Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Barack Obama—who might theoretically have faced war crimes charges under ICC jurisdiction. 11. Further research reveals that Interpol's red notices are requests, not enforceable warrants, and that in countries that are not Interpol members the organization 'has no jurisdiction or authority to hold police investigations.' 12. The US routes communications through a domestic body called the US National Central Bureau rather than any binding international obligation, meaning cooperation is effectively voluntary. 13. Donnie, the host with law enforcement experience, states he coordinated with Interpol personally and is shocked to discover the US was never truly bound by its directives. 14. The hosts conclude that the absence of the US and Israel from the ICC is 'by design' and not an accident, noting 'the math ain't mathin' when a country that helped prosecute Nuremberg war criminals declines to join the successor court. 15. One host connects the Nuremberg trials (1945-1950) to the origins of the ICC, questioning why the US was 'intimately involved' with Nuremberg but later withdrew from its institutional successor. 16. The Mossad's historical role hunting Nazi war criminals internationally is mentioned as further irony given Israel's current non-participation in the ICC. 17. The tone throughout is conversational and reactive, with hosts frequently interrupting each other as they process live research results and revise their assumptions in real time. 18. The format is a multi-host roundtable with live AI-assisted research, creating a 'finding out together' dynamic rather than a prepared argument. 19. Listeners interested in US-Israel policy, international law gaps, and commentary-style political discussion will find this episode engaging. 20. Listeners seeking formal legal analysis, academic sourcing, or structured debate will likely find the format too informal.

As heard by us

A tense, loose conversation about Trump, international courts, and who the law really reaches.

This episode is a sharp, fast moving argument about Trump, international justice, and the strain that power puts on the rules meant to restrain it.

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Why you'd press play

You want a blunt, high-heat argument about Trump's Netanyahu moment and who, if anyone, can actually answer to the law.

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