Trump’s Global Influence and Ability to Bark Commands Is Waning Rapidly
Trump can no longer bark commands that the world obeys, in the Mideast or elsewhere.
Israel and the US on a Different Page
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump and Netanyahu’s Rift Over Lebanon Is Deepening
An explosive new round of fighting highlighted the deep and growing disagreements between Israel and the U.S. over Lebanon, as President Trump tries to salvage a deal to end the broader war with Iran.
Iran has conditioned that deal on an end to the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and its militia ally, Hezbollah. Tehran upped the ante overnight by firing waves of missiles at Israel after Israel attacked Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Despite Trump’s effort to calm the growing tensions, Israel retaliated against targets in Iran including an important petrochemical facility, extending an exchange of fire that Iran warned could pull in energy facilities across the region.
“Iran feels relatively comfortable, because it believes the U.S. and Israel are not aligned regarding the Lebanese issue,” said Ofer Guterman, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. “Israel’s government wants to maintain the use of force as much as possible to achieve its interests in Lebanon and Iran, while the Trump administration is on a different page.”
Trump’s Republican Party is heading into midterm elections with an unpopular war and voters concerned about the higher cost of gasoline. Netanyahu, meanwhile, is under fire from opponents and allies in his ruling coalition for letting the U.S. decide on matters of deep importance to Israel’s security.
Netanyahu was on the verge of launching a major new attack on Hezbollah in Beirut a week ago when Trump intervened to stop it in a pair of tense phone calls last Monday.
Sunday’s call between the two leaders didn’t feature the screaming that characterized the heated calls last week, when Trump angrily told Netanyahu he would be in prison without the president’s support in ongoing corruption cases, people familiar with the calls said.
The divergence over Lebanon reflects key differences between what Israel and the U.S. want from the war, said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli military intelligence official and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
While Trump wants to end the war with a deal that eases the pressure on oil markets and global consumers, Israel still holds on to hope it could end with some kind of Iranian capitulation, he said.
Not Just the Mideast
World leaders are increasingly ignoring Trump.
For example, Mexico’s Sheinbaum takes a firmer stance toward the US over migrant deaths and Cuba
The Mexican government on Tuesday protested the deaths of its citizens in U.S. immigration custody as President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies on multiple fronts.
The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting U.S. requests to crack down on criminal cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and U.S. military action against the gangs.
But in the wake of mounting deaths of Mexican citizens in custody of immigration officials and the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba — a key Mexican ally — Sheinbaum has taken a harder line.
“We’ve seen the president raise her tone,” said Palmira Tapia, an analyst for Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. “There’s been a shift, and we’ve seen Sheinbaum be more vocal than before.”
Deaths in ICE custody
Sheinbaum’s latest rebuke came on Tuesday, a day after 49-year-old Mexican citizen Alejandro Cabrera Clemente died in a detention center in Louisiana of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, the fifteenth death of a Mexican citizen in U.S. custody in little over a year.
Mexico’s government quickly called the deaths “unacceptable” and the ICE detention centers “incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life.”
Defying Demands and Policies
- Military Interventions: Key U.S. allies—including Britain, France, and Germany—have flatly refused to send warships or help secure the Strait of Hormuz, publicly distancing themselves from the conflict in the Middle East.
- International Initiatives: Major European nations and organizations like the European Commission have actively rejected his push to alter the status of Greenland and the Arctic. Similarly, many U.S. allies have refused to join his proposed “Board of Peace,” preferring to stick to United Nations channels.
- Regional Alliances: Muslim-majority nations have openly scoffed at his demands to join the Abraham Accords, citing domestic opposition.
Globally, there is little talk of deals that Trump insisted he made.
Trump is bogged down in a war he started but does not know how to end. Iran senses weakness. So does Mexico and now every country in the Mideast.
Trump threw Giorgia Meloni, the current Prime Minister of Italy, a lifeline. Her party was in disarray until Trump foolishly mocked the Pope.
Meloni wisely used the opportunity to distance herself from Trump.
Key Developments Meloni-Trump Relationship
- Initial Alignment: Meloni, a nationalist and conservative, was once considered Trump’s closest ally in Europe. She was the only European Union leader to attend his inauguration in January 2025 and visited Mar-a-Lago.
- Foreign Policy Clashes: Meloni firmly denounced the U.S. military action in Iran, prohibited U.S. bombers from using Italian airbases for combat operations, and opposed Trump’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Italy.
- Public Spat Over Pope Leo: When Trump launched a social media attack criticizing Pope Leo, Meloni publicly called the comments “unacceptable”.
- Retaliation: Trump fired back at Meloni in an interview with an Italian newspaper, calling her unacceptable, stating she “lacked courage,” and expressing shock that she wouldn’t back the U.S. war efforts.
Despite sharing similar ideological roots on border control, sovereignty, and identity politics, diverging foreign policy interests and geopolitical realities have permanently ruptured their ties.
World leaders ranging from left to right have recently shown less hesitation to publicly mock or blast president Trump and his policies.