Intel: Lebanon aid wrangling exposes divide in Trump administration

The US Treasury Department today sanctioned one Democratic Republic of Congo-based and two Lebanon-based individuals accused of financing Hezbollah: Saleh Assi, Nazem Said Ahmad and Tony Saab.

The money laundering designations come a day after Bloomberg reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo personally intervened to release $115 million in economic aid to Lebanon that had been delayed for a month at the behest of Hezbollah hawks in the Donald Trump administration and Congress. And earlier this month, the White House released $105 million in Lebanese military assistance after a months-long hold.

Why it matters: The on-again-off-again aid holds are sending mixed messages to Beirut amid the country’s worst economic crisis since the civil war. Lebanese protesters continue to demand that the country’s political old guard step down, including Hezbollah and its allies.

While today’s sanctions and Pompeo’s stated support for the protesters indicate that the United States is still committed to squeezing Hezbollah financially, the aid meddling sheds light on the divide within the Trump administration between hard-liners and those who believe that the assistance bolsters Lebanese institutions against the Shiite paramilitary group’s influence.