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April 30, 2026

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President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting.

US seeks to train Lebanon army units to disarm Hezbollah: What to know

Funding for such a program remains unclear, though the Pentagon has requested $36 million for fiscal year 2027 to support Lebanon’s army.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

As President Donald Trump pressures Israel to limit its strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah is taking advantage of the situation.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

With talks between Israel and Lebanon being held in Washington, Paris still insists that it must be involved to balance possible American bias and to protect Beirut’s interests.

Latest News

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel sees chance of US-Iran deal as almost 'non-existent,' readies for war

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

US official alleges Hezbollah stashed ammonium nitrate throughout Europe

The claim came amid a Trump administration push for the EU to fully designate Hezbollah's political wing a terrorist group.

Trump administration leveraged terror designation to push Sudan to recognize Israel

Last minute White House gambit risked efforts to obtain compensation for families of victims of the 1998 embassy bombings, sources tell Al-Monitor.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo(R) welcomes Qatars Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to launch the third annual US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue at the State Department in Washington, DC on September 14, 2020. (Photo by ERIN SCOTT / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ERIN SCOTT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

US floats idea of upgrading Qatar to 'non-NATO ally'

A senior State Department official made the suggestion amid a White House push for Arab states to recognize Israel following this year's strategic dialogue with Qatar.

This picture taken on August 25, 2019 shows damage inside a media centre of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah in the south of the capital Beirut, after two drones came down in the vicinity of its building earlier in the day, with (L to R) pictures of Iran's former and current Supreme Leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seen next to a computer terminal. - Hezbollah said on August 25 that one of the drones was rigged with explosives and caused damage to its media centre, but den

US imposes sanctions on Iranian intelligence, Hezbollah-linked targets in Lebanon

New US sanctions affect 47 individuals and entities in Iran as well as three targets in Lebanon.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: (L-R) Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan wave from the Truman Balcony of the White House after the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Witnessed by President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu si

The Takeaway: Trump scores diplomatic win with eye on November election

Iran deal coming after elections, Trump says; Qatar says normalization not the answer; Netanyahu returns home to COVID-19, political crises.

Pompeo: US to return to UN to ensure Iran sanctions enforced

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the international sanctions on Iran will return this weekend, despite opposition from most of the Security Council.

US gives Iraqi Kurdistan peshmerga $250 million worth of Humvees, ammo

Washington's ambassador announced the move as some US troops prepare to leave Iraq.

State Department officials testify before Congress on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the May 2019 sale did not warrant an emergency certification, but a State official cited the threat from Iran.

This picture taken on December 5, 2019, shows a general view of the newsroom at the headquarters of the Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite news channel in the capital Doha. - Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera has travelled a long and bumpy road from the early 2000s when it was best known for airing tapes of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It now cultivates a loyal youth audience on social media alongside the satellite channels which have won it both acclaim and scorn. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (P

DOJ orders affiliate of Qatar-backed Al Jazeera to register as foreign agent

The Department of Justice accused AJ+ of acting "at the direction and control” of Qatar.

A service vehicle with a sign reading 'Welcome to Incirlik' is pictured at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey, on January 21, 2016. / AFP / POOL / TOBIAS SCHWARZ (Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon pushes back on claim that US to leave Turkey’s Incirlik base

Senator Ron Johnson said the United States is considering basing more forces on Crete as relations with Turkey deteriorate.

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump waits to speak at a roundtable rally with Latino supporters at the Arizona Grand Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona on September 14, 2020. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump now admits he wanted to kill Syria's Assad but Mattis stopped him

"I would've rather taken him out. I had him all set," President Donald Trump said of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A road is decorated with the flags of (L-R) the US, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain, in the resort city of Netanya in central Israel, on September 13, 2020. - The UAE and Bahrain will sign agreements to recognise Israel, on September 15.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to sign the Abraham accords -- a reference to the common traditions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity -- at a White House ceremony. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP v

Netanyahu excludes Gantz from triumphant trip to Washington

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's crowded Washington entourage included everyone but Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkanzi.

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