Tucker Carlson claims he and his staff were detained in Israel and had their passports confiscated Wednesday after interviewing Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the country, but the U.S. embassy is denying his allegation.
The Daily Mail reports: “Carlson told the Daily Mail exclusively that shortly after the interview, Israeli officials confiscated his passport and hauled off his executive producer to an interrogation room.
“Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,” Carlson told the Daily Mail.
“It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country.”
Before the interview, Carlson had posted a photo of himself and business partner Neil Patel standing in front of Ben Gurion International Airport with the caption: “Greetings from Israel.”
Greetings from Israel. pic.twitter.com/1uBWvqBNST
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 18, 2026
“Too bad Tucker stayed in the airport in the face of so many invitations to see so many wonderful places. A huge and obviously intentional missed opportunity,” taunted David Friedman, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel during Trump’s first term.
The Mail noted: “Two sources familiar with the matter, however, told the Daily Mail that the Israeli government initially did not want to allow Carlson into the country, prompting a delicate negotiation involving the State Department.”
“In the end, the Israeli government decided to not bar Carlson from entering the country in order to avoid a ‘diplomatic incident,’ according to a Channel 13 report.”
The paper indicated a U.S. embassy spokesperson denied Carlson had been detained and claimed he “received the same passport control questions that countless visitors to Israel including Ambassador Huckabee and other diplomats receive as part of normal entrance and exit from Israel.”
“It is not accurate that Israel only was going to let Tucker into the country for the interview,” the spokesperson added.
“The only engagement the Embassy had with Israel about his visit was to coordinate his private plane landing as part of facilitating a seamless visit. It was Tucker who chose to only come into the country for a few hours and depart. And Tucker received the same positive treatment of any visitors to Israel.”
Investigative journalist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who has not been shy hiding her disdain for Carlson, highlighted the U.S. embassy’s denial online, saying: “Tucker Carlson made the whole story up about being detained in Israel. He has no credibility left.”
Tucker Carlson made the whole story up about being detained in Israel.
He has no credibility left. pic.twitter.com/EUy73Rv0LV
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) February 18, 2026
Carlson had flown to Israel after Huckabee challenged him to speak directly to him in the wake of an online argument about the Jewish state’s treatment of Christians.
In recent months, Carlson has been a frequent critic of Israel for its military actions in Gaza.
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