The Dictatorship
Lebanon’s president asks Trump to do what he rarely does: cross Netanyahu
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun arrives at the White House on Tuesday with a single delicate mission: to convince President Donald Trump to press Israel into honoring a U.S.-brokered agreement that would pull Israeli troops out of Lebanon and disarm Hezbollah.
It is an ask that could publicly pull Trump’s aims apart from Israel’s — pressing Israel to pull back where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has favored pressing forward.
Netanyahu will not be in the room. But his presence hangs over it. Trump has stood closely with him — on Iran, on Gaza, on the regional map. And as Netanyahu’s forces occupy southern Lebanon, with little sign of urgency to withdraw, Aoun is effectively asking Trump to push his closest partner in the region to move in a direction Israel so far has not.
The meeting marks the first visit to the White House by a Lebanese president in nearly two decades, and it comes at a fraught moment for the conflict-worn nation, with hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced in the aftermath of Israeli strikes.
Aoun’s immediate goal is concrete: secure U.S. military and financial aid to help Lebanon carry out a trilateral framework meant to cement peace with Israel. The agreement, signed in June, calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal in exchange for Lebanese steps to disarm Hezbollah.
“President Aoun is going to show a real willingness, a real desire to put the Lebanese Armed Forces to the test, for people to have faith,” said Hagar Chemali, co-founder of the Lebanon-Israel Peace Alliance and former National Security Council director for the Middle East. “His goal is to garner more support in terms of equipment and financial support.”
For Chemali, the visit turns on a mutual bet.
“The U.S. needs President Aoun to have the strength he needs and time and space to execute that framework agreement,” Chemali said. “And on Aoun’s side, he trusts President Trump to fulfill not just the U.S. commitments in the framework agreement — which have to do more with military support, garnering investment, stuff like that — but also to hold Israel’s feet to the fire.”
There are early signs of movement. On Monday, the State Department said the first of several “pilot zones” was underway — designated areas in southern Lebanon where Israel will ease its military control and let Lebanese forces take sole authority.
“The establishment of these initial pilot zones represents real progress on the ground,” said a U.S. official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive planning. “It is an opportunity for the Lebanese state to begin to reassert real control in areas historically dominated by Hizballah” and would ideally create momentum needed for the Lebanese Armed Forces to expand the process and move towards peace, the official added — warning against any attempt by Hezbollah to derail the effort.
Israel signaled it is in no hurry to leave. An Israeli military official said Israel will remain “for as long as necessary to defend the communities of northern Israel” and “retain the freedom of operation to remove threats posed to the soldiers” deployed to the security zone.
Aoun has spent the last several days laying the groundwork. In a stage-setting meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Lebanon’s “move towards peace” and “determined efforts to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure and move towards peace,” according to a State Department statement.
Now Aoun will have to prove to Trump that he can deliver. “The hurdle in general will be: Can he give enough detail on Hezbollah’s disarmament and how that will go?” Chemali said. “How it will work, whether there are deadlines and timetables, et cetera — enough for him to get the support that he wants for the LAF.”
The stakes, she said, are not only diplomatic but historic. For the first time in two decades, a Lebanese president represents a government in which Hezbollah is not merely a diminished player but one whose military and security operations the state has declared illegal — and a government willing to speak loudly against Iran at a moment when Washington is listening.
If that is the test Aoun faces, Trump faces one of his own. The larger question is whether he has the means, or the will, to lean on Netanyahu. The two remain close: Trump has hosted him six times since returning to office, though not since February, before the two men launched a joint military offensive against Tehran. Netanyahu’s plans to return to Washington remain unsettled — a conspicuous pause for a leader this central to Trump’s Middle East policy. Pressing him now would test whether Trump can hold a line Netanyahu opposes — something he has struggled to do before.
Iran is the clearest case. In June 2025, Trump said he was not ready to abandon nuclear negotiations with Tehran and publicly warned Israel against striking. “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow — it might help it, actually, but it also could blow it,” he said — just eight hours before Israel launched its airstrikes anyway. Ten days later, Trump ordered the U.S. military to join, bombing three major Iranian nuclear facilities.
Netanyahu went on to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. He made Trump aware of the move during a White House visit at which Trump deferred to the Israeli leader when asked by a reporter whether he believed in a two-state solution.
“I don’t know – I’ll ask Bibi that question. You have the greatest man in the world to answer that age old question: Two state? Go ahead – give him your honest answer,” Trump said, motioning to the Israeli prime minister.
“I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers should threaten us. That means that certain powers, like overall security, will always remain in our hands,” Netanyahu said, a demand that Palestinian leadership had long declared as a non-starter for any two-state agreement.
During his first term, Trump helped broker the Abraham Accordsthe agreements to establish diplomatic relations between Israel with the U.A.E. and Bahrain – the third and fourth Arab countries to make such peace pacts. But as part of the agreement with the U.A.E. at the time, Netanyahu publicly vowed to not formally annex the West Bank — then, months later, vowed to “advance and develop settlement in all parts of the land of Israel” and to legalize West Bank outposts as he fought to hold his governing coalition together in 2022. Trump’s hopes of extending the accords to Saudi Arabia have since stalled amid Israel’s continued military campaigns.
Yet the relationship has not always been frictionless. Trump seethed when Netanyahu recognized Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, telling Axios reporter Barak Ravid“F— him,” and adding: “Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.”
Years later, Trump’s old ire for Netanyahu during the end of his administration again was raised publicly just four days after Hamas’ attack on Israel in which the terrorist organization killed more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 250 others.
Trump, mentioning the attacks while in West Palm Beach, chastised Netanyahu for having previously “let us down.” “I’ll never forget, I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down – that was a very terrible thing. I will say that,” Trump said, referring to Israel’s decision to not join the U.S. ahead of its 2020 operation to launch an airstrike and kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
The two men have since mended fences. But the history is a reminder that Trump’s loyalty has limits — and that, on the right issue, he has been willing to test them.
That is the wager Aoun carries into the West Wing on Tuesday: that Trump’s word to Lebanon will, this time, outweigh his deference to Israel.
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.
Vaughn Hillyard is a senior White House reporter for MS NOW.
Jake Traylor is a White House correspondent for MS NOW.
The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination, a spokesperson said late Wednesday, as two retiring Republicans on the panel dug in over President Donald Trump’s personal “anti-weaponization” deal with the government he runs.
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s decision to delay the committee vote that had been set for Thursday marks a setback for one of Trump’s highest-profile Cabinet nominees, at the hands of Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a pair of Republicans set to leave the chamber next year.
“Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” the committee spokesperson said.
Blanche’s nomination to permanently head the Department of Justice needs the support of either Cornyn or Tillis to make it out of the committee to a vote by the full Senate, assuming all Democrats remain opposed.
“Why don’t you call over the Department of Justice and tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday afternoon amid the hardening standoff over his demand that Blanche and the DOJ put in writing a commitment never to pursue the president’s prized “anti-weaponization” fund, and to clarify the terms of Trump’s personal deal with the Internal Revenue Service.
Tillis told MS NOW that the conversations were complicated by the need for the Justice Department to get “several parties” to agree on the language of the statement Cornyn and Tillis are seeking.
“What I’ve advised the chair, and I would assume Senator Cornyn said something similar, is that we’re not prepared to vote yes yet,” he added.
“The Department has been in regular communication with Committee members for weeks, and we look forward to continuing to work productively with Senators to address any concerns,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in response to the decision to postpone the committee vote.
Cornyn was set to meet with Blanche on Wednesday morning, but the meeting was called off after Blanche failed to meet the senator’s demand for written proposals to modify the controversial settlement agreement he brokered between Trump and the IRS. The Republican senator is set to leave Congress when his term ends in January after a bruising May primary loss to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Trump’s chosen candidate.
“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office. “I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem. I heard (Blanche) is going through quite nicely.”
Cornyn made clear to Blanche during his confirmation hearing that he will not get his support until he agrees to reopen and modify the settlement. Due to the committee’s narrow Republican majority, one GOP “no” vote is enough to sink Blanche’s nomination.
The senator has asked Blanche to provide proof that the proposed nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund established as part of the deal between Trump and the IRS is formally dead, and he has also demanded Blanche narrow the tax audit immunity provisions the settlement afforded to Trump and his family.
Blanche has publicly stated that his department has dropped the fund, but he and the DOJ have dodged requests from Cornyn and a federal judge to put that in writing.
After announcing his meeting with Blanche would not take place Wednesday morning, Cornyn told reporters that changes from Blanche “in a modified release form” would be acceptable, but that “for some reason … they simply refuse to do it,” referring to the DOJ.
Shortly after the meeting was called off, a Justice Department official told MS NOW that the department “provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office.”
Cornyn said that proposal was “not responsive” to his demands because it did not address the tax audit immunity provisions in the settlement, one of his key demands.
In May, Blanche signed an addendum as part of the deal that granted Trump, his family and his businesses immunity from pending IRS tax audits. That agreement, which has been decried by former IRS officials and legal experts as unlawful self-dealing, is being contested in federal court.
Cornyn noted that Blanche testified under oath that he could meet the request during his confirmation hearing.
“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or you know, go along, but they’re mistaken,” Cornyn said when asked why he thinks the DOJ could be slow-walking his request.
Kevin Frey contributed to this report.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived this week for his tour of Washington, he may have had a mission in mind.
Netanyahu needed to overcome his newly diminished stature and waning influence over his once close friend President Donald Trump as both leaders grapple with the unpopularity of a war they started together and is escaping their control.
His meeting at the White House with Trump on Tuesday, which was closed to the press, was the first face-to-face encounter between the two allies since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack against Iran on Feb. 28.
Trump gave him a muted welcome and afterwards simply described the meeting as “very good.” “Obviously, many important subjects were discussed,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Rather than an intimate one-on-one setting, the Oval Office was full of top U.S. officials — Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Netanyahu continued the full court press on the Trump administration.
Over the course of two days, in addition to seeing Trump and attending Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral at the Capitol, Netanyahu also met separately with Vance, Hegseth, and Rubio, White House and Israeli officials confirmed to MS NOW.
The Israeli prime minister’s slate of meetings with key U.S. national security officials comes at a pivotal moment in the Iran conflict as tensions escalate in the region and Americans increasingly sour on the war. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows 60% of American voters opposing U.S. military action against Iran and 74% against sending U.S. ground troops into Iran.
Not only does Trump face pressure as Republicans face an uphill battle to retain congressional control in this fall’s midterms, Netanyahu’s fate as prime minister is at stake in Israel’s upcoming September elections – and he can’t afford to lose Trump’s favor.
The talks largely focused on what to do next as Iran continues to menace shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliate against American bases in the region and launch attacks on Gulf allies.
According to a senior Israeli official who was granted anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not come to a final decision after discussing three paths forward: get a “good deal” focused on Iran’s nuclear program and enriched material, have no deal and instead continue the blockade and economic pressure, or take escalated military action.
But Netanyahu did not tell Trump what he should do – nor did he express a preference.
The senior Israeli official noted Netanyahu has not ruled out diplomacy – as long as it is coupled with “very strong pressures,” calling the push to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program “a contest of will and a contest of force.”
“There are ways of squeezing them and squeezing them and squeezing them and negotiating at the same time,” the official said.
Netanyahu did not present President Trump with new intelligence regarding the underground Iranian nuclear facility Pickaxe Mountain, per the senior Israeli official, noting the U.S. and Israel already are constantly sharing intelligence – and know where Iran’s highly enriched material is. “We don’t think it’s moved, and I think we have a pretty good grasp on that,” the official said.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Trump and Netanyahu discussed ways Israel and the U.S. can work together to stop Iran’s nuclear program and get the Strait of Hormuz open to maritime trade, the senior Israeli official said.
The two leaders also discussed a third goal: to continue to undermine the Iranian regime and “possibly create future conditions for a change in that area.” U.S. officials have backed away from pursuing paths that would overthrow the current leadership, but Netanyahu still believes that could happen.
“The chasm that has been created between the people and the regime is not about to be closed,” the senior Israeli official said of Netanyahu’s thinking.
Netanyahu advised Trump in February that Israeli intelligence indicated launching strikes against Iran would lead to the toppling of the Islamic Republic’s regime – and five months later, the slain ayatollah’s son retains power with a close circle of hardliners, calling into question the accuracy of Israel’s intelligence apparatus.
But the senior Israeli official said at the time, Netanyahu did not promise the Iranian people would take fate into their own hands following a coordinated attack. Rather, he chose his words carefully and said that an attack could create conditions to “advance the probability or the possibility that that would happen.”
The conditions needed for the Iranian regime to fall, “did not materialize,” the official told MS NOW, adding, “not for lack of insight, but for either operational failure or decisions that were made.”
Despite Netanyahu insisting Israel and the U.S. are on the same page, differences still remain: the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and the Saudi nuclear arrangement did not come up during Wednesday’s White House meeting, according to a second Israeli official granted anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
Meanwhile, the conflict continues to spread, with an Iranian drone attacking a U.S. gas storage tanker off the coast of Egypt on Wednesday.
Trump indicated he would not let Iran’s latest action slide, telling reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. would retaliate against Iran even as he leaves room for diplomatic talks to resume.
“It’s our turn, and we’ll see if we get there with an agreement at some point,” Trump said. “But we’re going to hit them very hard.”
As for what it would take for Israel to join the U.S. strikes, the senior Israeli official said that if Israel is attacked by Iran, “We will respond very, very forcefully and very quickly. And I think Iran would make a great mistake.”
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.
International rage over FIFA’s close ties to President Donald Trump has reached a fever pitch after soccer’s governing body announced a plan to sell a significant stake to an investor group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.
The president and his family have all but turned the White House into their personal piggy bank. And FIFA — which has its own sordid history of corruption — seems to have made itself a party to Trump’s self-enrichment under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, such as by paying for space inside Trump Tower in New York. (The organization has defended the office rental as a World Cup outpost.)
Soccer is seen by many as a unifying game. But Trump’s incorporation of FIFA into his political dynasty is threatening that idea.
FIFA has announced plans to sell a large minority stake in a new company that will run its main events, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, as part of a plan to triple the amount of development money it dishes out to its 211 member associations.
Under the proposals — which are subject to approval by a majority of those national associations and FIFA’s 37-member council — a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) will take over all commercial operations, while FIFA remains the game’s global governing body and retains a majority stake in FFE.
A press release from FIFA confirmed the plans and said Thrive Eternal, which was launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investment group that would control FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA did not clarify why Thrive Eternal was selected, and Kushner was already dabbling in sports.
But Trump basically has already given son-in-law Jared Kushner carte blanche to dictate U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while simultaneously hatching business plans in the region. (Jared Kushner has denied any conflicts of interest.)
Joshua Kushner reportedly has been a major donor to Democrats. But, predictably, the idea of another Kushner becoming financially entwined with the World Cup — the world’s most popular sporting event — and basically being dropped into a position of global significance isn’t going over well. Several other soccer governing bodies have expressed concerns, including Europe’s UEFA.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said in a statement about The Athletic’s report, adding: “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also rebuked the plan, writing on X: “Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough — now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.”
FIFA, Donald Trump’s favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports, is now going directly into business with the Trump family!
Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough—now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a… https://t.co/knSZibuMea
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 28, 2026
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has already launched an investigation into the FIFA leader’s relationship with the Trump administration, while dozens of European lawmakers — citing concerns about “potential breaches of political neutrality” — have called for the FIFA Ethics Committee to investigate Infantino. This new proposal seems unlikely to assuage those concerns.
But what it does seem likely to do is fuel global anger toward the U.S. — the kind that has been growing since Trump retook office.
And when you consider that, it’s truly remarkable how the same MAGA movement whose members whined for years about politics mixing with sports is now in lockstep with a president who seems dead-set on casting his shadow over every sports event he can.
This post on X basically sums up the foul stench around FIFA’s latest proposal.
Sepp Blatter was Infantino’s predecessor as FIFA president and oversaw the organization amid some of its many scandals. When heof all people, is warning about how Trump and Infantino’s relationship is “deeply damaging” soccer, it’s a sign of how far FIFA has descended into the gutter.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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